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Creating Spending Reductions for the Next Decade?

By Children’s Home Society of Florida Foundation

Under the compromise between President Obama and leaders of the House and Senate, the Budget Control Act of 2011 created spending reductions of over $900 billion during the next decade. The bill also requires leaders of the House and Senate to appoint members to a Joint Select Committee. The committee has three Republican, three Democratic Senators, three Republican and three Democratic Representatives.

House and Senate leaders have now appointed the committee members. The 12 committee members are tasked with creating a $1.5 trillion budget solution by Thanksgiving. Their bill will be voted on without amendments by December 23, 2011.

If the committee is not able to develop and pass a bill by Dec. 23, there will be $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. Half of the cuts will come from the Department of Defense and one-half will be reductions in payments to Medicare providers.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appointed three Senators. The Co-Chair of the Joint Select Committee will be Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). His other two appointees are Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT). Sen. Kerry is Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Sen. Baucus is Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appointed Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). Sen. Kyl is the Republican Whip and a senior member of the Finance Committee. Sen. Toomey is a member of the Budget Committee. Sen. Portman was previously Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) appointed Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) as Co-Chair of the committee. His other appointments are Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). Rep. Camp is Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and Rep. Upton chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appointed Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), House Ways and Means Member Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Budget Committee Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

The Joint Select Committee is expected to initiate meetings in September after Congress returns from the August recess.

Editor’s Note: There will undoubtedly be a spirited debate. All of the twelve committee members will want to avoid drastic budget cuts for the Department of Defense or Medicare providers. The group will need to discuss potential cuts in discretionary expenditures, defense and entitlements. With the appointments of key taxwriters Baucus and Camp, it is clear that taxes will also be a part of the discussion. Whether or not there are tax increases as part of the budget solution remains to be seen.

Conclusion

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Filed under: Health Insurance, Health Law & Policy, Healthcare Finance, Taxation | Tagged: Budget Control Act, CMS, Joint Select Committee, medicare | 12 Comments »