A Democratic source passes along a memo listing cuts to Medicare and Medicaid that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) proposed at a contentious White House debt limit meeting on Monday.
The cuts themselves were first identified by a bipartisan working group of legislators led by Vice President Joe Biden as cuts that could garner bipartisan support — contingent on the assumption that Republicans agree to put new tax revenue of some kind on the table.
President Obama reportedly rejected this proposal on the grounds that the GOP has refused anything other than revenue-neutral deficit reduction. A Cantor spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Though the memo lacks key details about many of the cuts, it contains enough to show where, exactly, Republicans hope to achieve savings. Its largest single source of savings — $100 billion worth — comes from what the memo terms “Medicaid FMAP Reform,” or matching funds to state governments for providing Medicaid services.
It calls for up to $53 billion in savings from instituting new cost-sharing protocols for so-called Medigap policies — supplemental insurance sold to Medicare beneficiaries to cover the cost of services not covered, or partially covered by Medicare. Specifically, it would institute a $530 out-of-pocket premium for certain Medigap plans. It also calls for over $80 billion in additional cost-shifting for home health coverage, and for medical and prescription drug coverage.
More information when we get it, but for now, read the memo here.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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