The White House says the plan sets aside too much money for managed care health plans at the expense of hospitals, nursing homes and the almost 40 million elderly and disabled Americans insured by Medicare, and has threatened a veto. Lott said the Medicare initiative would be included in a broader tax bill that contains a number of items, including an increase in the minimum wage, export tax changes to head off a trade war with Europe and incentives for investment in poor communities, strongly supported by the White House. The Medicare legislation aims to further restore funding cuts made to the program under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which have produced much bigger savings than anticipated. Democrats argue that is too much since health maintenance organizations serve only 16 percent of Medicare beneficiaries.
Republicans counter it is needed to stem the tide of health plans abandoning the program.
With that in mind, some key backers of the effort continue to hold the door open for an agreement with the White House. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the dotted and sphere logos are house marks of Reuters Limited. Reuters is a registered trade mark in more than 25 countries worldwide.