Focus on What’s in the Senate Bill

RUSH: Now, here are some things in the reconciliation package, the reconciliation fixes that will not be part of the bill if they vote Sunday and Obama signs it. This is the deem-and-pass thing. I’ve told you about the increase, almost 1% increase in the Medicare payroll tax on investment income, capital gains. There are even deeper cuts to Medicare Advantage, which will mean fewer and less attractive Medicare Advantage plans available to seniors.

And as I mentioned yesterday, take a look at Walgreens in the state of Washington, they are not accepting any new Medicaid patients starting April 16th. I mean that’s the future. There are increases in the employer penalties for not complying with the mandates which will hit all businesses with more than 50 employees. It’s deadly. Now, what’s in the Senate bill? What’s in the Senate? The Senate Democrats’ health bill cuts Medicare by $463 billion. And, by the way, folks, you should know this. Steny Hoyer has sent a memo to all Democrats in the House: ‘Do not get into a discussion about specifics of the CBO report. Do not get into specifics.’ The reason is, if they get into specifics they’re going to have to admit that everything they’re saying is untrue about how much it costs and how much premiums are going down and how much the deficit’s going down because none of that’s true. Hoyer is printing out a memo to staff members to tell their leaders and members of Congress, do not get into a debate with anybody about what’s in the CBO report, just focus on deficit reduction.

In other words, Hoyer sent a memo out to his members saying: ‘Just lie, just lie, and say this reduces the deficit but get into no specifics. You keep walking, you don’t stop, and you do not get into a detailed discussion of CBO numbers.’ They don’t want a detailed discussion of any of the details here. They lose if that happens. They don’t want it, and that’s why people are focusing on these details today. The sum total of Medicare cuts in the Senate bill is $523.5 billion dollars. That’s the total and that’s what will pass. The Senate bill will be separated if they vote on this reconciliation thing Sunday, it will be sent over to the Senate to be certified there, then on to Obama. The reconciliation package will not be part of it. The reconciliation package may never see the light of day. Here are the way the cuts break down: $202.3 billion in cuts to seniors Medicare health plans including massive cuts targeting the extra benefits and reduced cost sharing that seniors receive through Medicare Advantage; $156.6 billion in cuts to inpatient and outpatient hospital services, inpatient rehab facilities, long-term care hospitals. Folks, there’s no expanded care anywhere, especially for you seasoned citizens. There are massive cuts. And this $523 billion is being taken away from Medicare and is being spent elsewhere. They’re taking it away from senior citizens, spending it elsewhere in the new entitlement. This is in the Senate bill, not this reconciliation stuff, what has been passed last Christmas Eve in the Senate.

Thirty-nine point seven billion in cuts to home health reimbursements; $22.1 billion in additional cuts to hospitals by slashing reimbursements designed to assist hospitals that serve low-income patients; $20.7 billion in cuts to the Medicare improvement fund; $13.3 billion in yet-to-be-determined Medicare cuts from the hands of an unelected federal board. Look, I’m going to stop with the numbers because they get blurred after a while. We’re talking about a couple of different things, reconciliation and the Senate bill when we start talking about these numbers. The bottom line is there are no expanded services, there are no smaller premiums. Nothing that they’re saying about this — Pelosi, Hoyer, Obama — none of it is true.