Senator Sheldon White House of Rhode Island is warning Americans that Republicans buried a “sneak attack” on Medicare in their recently-passed Big, Beautiful for Billionaires’ Tax Cuts Bill.
Republicans kept assuring Americans they wouldn’t touch Medicare, but jettisoned that promise quickly by passing their Big Bill.
Republicans don’t want Americans to know it, but since the Big Bill will add trillions to the nation’s debt over the next decade, starting in 2026 it will trigger “sequestration” in Medicare, which will result in automatic cuts being made to Medicare payments between the years 2026 and 2034. (pdf)
In Medicare, “sequestration” refers to automatic, across-the-board cuts in Medicare payments to providers that are mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The cuts, which are limited to 4%, are applied to Medicare claims with dates of service on or after April 1, 2013. The cuts built into the 2011 Budget Control Act were put there to control federal spending and reduce the national deficit, but Republicans didn’t flag information on how their massive debt increase will affect Medicare for Americans before passing their bill, apparently in an effort to try and keep the cuts secret until after the bill was a done deal.
Because Republicans didn’t tell Americans about the automatic cuts that will kick in in 2026 before passing their Big Bill, Sen. Whitehouse is calling the back-door, “hands-off” automatic cuts a “sneak attack” on Medicare, and is alerting Americans to them.
I just wrote and called Hurd’s office to ask if this is true. Staffer did not know but said someone would get back to me. Not surprising at all. Doing things that way…