by Nick Jacobs

Who has two legs, two arms, a dozen pair of cowboy boots and the ability to bring healthcare to its knees? You got it, President George W. Bush.

Citing the need for fiscal accountability, our President has projected dropping by $101 B the spending growth of both Medicare and Medicaid over a five year period. These combined programs serve approximately 1/3 of the population of our country and will cost about $560 B this year alone.

It appears that the anticipated cuts are, as predicted, arbitrary and could have a detrimental impact on the beneficiaries involved. We are all cognizant of the fact that there is a huge unfunded obligation that currently exists in these budget areas, but Democrats are accusing Bush of paying for the Iraq war and his major tax cuts by cutting or reducing health care for America’s poor and elderly. Others feel that this plan does nothing to address the underlying causes of the problems currently faced by Medicare and Medicaid.

As a hospital administrator, it is clear to me that these costs will simply be transferred to our emergency room and our uncompensated care. This will be a big blow to our teaching hospitals as well.

Overall the average federal spending for Medicare would slow from 6.5 to 5.6 percent while Medicaid would be about 7 percent. What are you thoughts?