Senate Republicans open the door to cutting Medicare 'waste' in Trump agenda bill
WASHINGTON — Looking at new ways to pay for their sprawling bill for President Donald Trump's domestic agenda, Republicans are exploring ideas to slash 'waste, fraud and abuse' in Medicare, several senators said Thursday.
And President Donald Trump has blessed the pursuit, they said.
'I think anything that can be — that's waste, fraud and abuse are open to, obviously, discussions,' Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.
He said that Republicans have primarily looked at Medicaid to find savings but that they're open to looking at other programs, too.
'The focus, as you know, has been on addressing waste, fraud, abuse within Medicaid and, but right now, we're open to suggestions that people have them about other areas where there is, you know, clearly, waste, fraud and abuse that can be rooted out in any government program,' Thune said.
Medicare has historically been seen as political third rail, a program members of both parties have been wary of touching in fear of backlash from older voters.
But Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said they shouldn't be afraid of cutting waste in Medicare.
'Why don't we go after that? I think we should,' Cramer said.
'Some people are afraid of the topics; I'm not,' he added, noting that they would focus on waste, fraud and abuse. 'In my view, this is our moment as Republicans in control of all three branches, and we ought to be going after more fiscal responsibility. And some people are making that case. Other people are wringing their hands.'
Senate Republicans said that they discussed the issue during a closed-door meeting and that it also came up with Trump when Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee met with him Wednesday.
'What the president made clear is [he] does not want to see any cuts to beneficiaries. But to go after, he repeated over again — the waste, fraud and abuse, the waste, fraud and abuse,' Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said.
The discussions open up a policy debate that could have explosive political ramifications. Medicare is a highly popular program that provides health insurance to people over 65 years old, and Democrats are already launching attacks on the new GOP discussions about making changes to the program.
'A program that 66 million Americans rely on is not waste, fraud, or abuse — it's lifesaving for the constituents of Republicans pushing to gut Medicare,' Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement Thursday. 'Let's be crystal clear: Donald Trump gave Republicans the green light to gut access to lifesaving medication and rip away health insurance to fund tax handouts for billionaires. These dangerous attacks are as disgraceful as they are unpopular — and will cost Republicans their seats come the midterms.'
GOP leaders are searching for ways to lower the cost of the bill passed by the House, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. It includes Medicaid and health spending cuts that Republicans describe as 'waste, fraud and abuse,' which the CBO estimates would result in 10.9 million fewer people having insurance.
Still, some conservative senators insist on mitigating the red ink to vote for the bill. And it's unclear how narrowly or broadly Senate Republicans would define 'waste, fraud and abuse' when it comes to Medicare.
There is skepticism in the GOP about pursuing that path.
'What a terrible idea. We should not be touching Medicare,' Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said, recalling that trying to cut retirement spending has burned the Republican Party in the past.
'In 2004 President Bush got re-elected and promptly tried to privatize Social Security, and Republicans didn't win the popular vote for 20 years,' Hawley said. 'So if you don't ever want to win an election again, just go fiddle around with people's Medicare that they've worked hard for, paid into.'
Hawley launched similar criticisms when Republicans began going after Medicaid for savings, but he said he supports most of the spending cuts in the House-passed bill, including the work requirements and eligibility rules.
The talks about Medicare came as news to some Republicans.
'I haven't heard any discussion of cutting Medicare. That's a vital program that people have earned their benefits for, and I'm not going to say never, because maybe there's some waste, fraud, abuse, kind of language, but I certainly would not support cutting Medicare benefits,' Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters.
The White House didn't immediately reply to a request for comment on what specific Medicare changes Trump favors.
A potential option senators mentioned is a bipartisan bill that would 'improve the way Medicare Advantage plans assess patients' health risks and reduce overpayments for care,' according to a description of the legislation. The bill, called the "No UPCODE Act," is co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
A recent CBO report said the policies in the bill could save $124 billion over 10 years.
'To say it has bipartisan support is an underestimate,' Cassidy told NBC News. 'I think that would be a reasonable way to protect it, don't cut benefits, you're taking care of patients, but you're trying to rescue the program.'
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