Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Republican struggle could mean bad news for Medicare.

On March 16, the Senate passed the budget resolution that includes no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or other entitlement spending programs. The Senate Budget Committee approved the budget blueprint March 9.

The Senate narrowly rejected an amendment from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) that called for $10 billion in cuts over five years for programs the Senate Finance Committee oversees, such as Medicare. Now, providers may soon get an idea of what House members have in mind for them next year.

Meanwhile, the House Budget Committee passed its fiscal year 2007 budget resolution on March 29, which is the blueprint for later binding budget legislation. As the industry hoped, the committee followed the Senate's lead and didn't include any Medicare or Medicaid cuts in its resolution.

But a battle between conservative and moderate Republicans may end up with the full House approving Medicare cuts in the final resolution legislation.

In this election year, lawmakers may finish up their 2007 budget legislation before the session ends in October. Or they may come back to vote on final budget legislation in a lame duck session after elections, observers predict.