News: More Medicare cuts in play

Congress agreed to extend sequestration on Medicare for an additional year, to 2024, as an offset to restore military cost-of-living adjustments, according to Rural Health Voices, the blog of the National Rural Health Association. The bill passed with a vote of 326-90 in the House Tuesday, February 11 and 95-3 in the Senate Wednesday, February 12.

In an open letter to Congress on February 10, nine different national associations and hospital groups encouraged government leaders not to pay for other federal services on the backs of the Medicare system.

“America’s hospitals strongly oppose a proposal to cut funding for seniors’ Medicare to pay for an extension of the debt limit. While we do not oppose the extension of the debt limit, we do oppose using Medicare reductions to pay for non-Medicare related spending… Medicare is meant to assure seniors access to needed medical care, not serve as a piggybank for other programs,” the letter stated.

According to February 7 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment at the nation's hospitals fell by 0.09% in January to a seasonally adjusted 4,788,300 people, 4,500 fewer people than in December but 1,800 more than a year ago. Without an adjustment for fluctuations dues to seasonal events, hospitals actually employed 24,900 fewer people than in December and 600 less than a year ago.