White House report predicts immediate health law benefits for Medicare's solvency; GOP lawmaker reacts

The Associated Press: In a report released Monday, the Obama administration said "[t]he new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away, and over time add 12 years of solvency to the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care." According to the report, Medicare savings by the end of next year will tally about $8 billion. Savings for rest of the decade would be an estimated $575 billion. "Release of the analysis comes ahead of the official annual financial checkup for Social Security and Medicare from the program's trustees, expected as early as this week. It provides support for the administration's position that the health care law secures and strengthens health care for seniors." Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters that these findings reflect "the priority we put on acting quickly to secure Medicare's future. ... We are going to ensure that seniors and Americans with disabilities get more value when they go to the hospital or to see a doctor" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/2).

Roll Call: Senate Finance Committee Ranking Republican Charles Grassley, R- Iowa, criticized the report. In a prepared statement, Grassley said that "'the White House continues to try to persuade people that cutting more than half a trillion dollars from medicare to fund an unsustainable new entitlement program is somehow a good thing for Medicare beneficiaries.' ... The political battle over health care reform has continued apace since the law was enacted in late March and is likely to be a major component of the fall campaign" (Drucker, 8/2).