Health care groups,Ā nervous aboutĀ the debt dealās āā deliberations that begin next week, are likely to fareĀ far better under a series of automatic cuts than any agreement the panel may reach. At least thatās the opinion ofĀ Washington insider Christopher Jennings, a former Clinton administration health care adviser.
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āWashingtonās governing precept is that the devil you know is preferable to the one you donāt,ā Jennings writes in aĀ piece published WednesdayĀ in the .Ā He adds: āhealth care stakeholders are beginning to conclude that any plan agreed on by the super committee would result in larger aggregate cuts and would have a greater negative impact.ā
Such a plan would almost inevitably include ānew and damagingā Medicaid cuts, Jennings notes. ThatĀ idea has been Medicaid advocates since the deal was first announced. While the entitlement program for the poor and disabled is protected in the automatic cuts, not so in the panelās deliberations on a comprehensive package.
Doctors and hospitalsĀ also believe that the panel could well produce more extensive Medicare cuts beyond the Ā $130 billion to $150 billion that would be cut through the fallback plan.Ā Some liberals have been thinking that the across-the-board 2 percent cut in the growth of Medicare spending may be the .
Patient groups āhave virtually no reason to want the super committee to actā since the automatic cuts explicity exempt seniors and the lowest-income Americans from paying more.ā Those groups, Jennings says, āare highly skeptical that an alternative ābigā deal would be balanced and fair.ā
A balance of polices to spur job growth and boost the economy combined with āa thoughtful collection of payment and cost-sharing reformsā to boostĀ Medicare and Medicaid,Ā as well as aĀ permanent answer to the yearly Medicare physician payment dilemma ā ā would be the ideal super committee compromise, Jennings says. He quickly adds itās alsoĀ unlikely: Ā āThe choice is therefore not a close call; the automatic cuts are by far the best poison to be forced to take.ā