'Super Committee' Fails to Make Deal; Medicare Cuts Triggered

The bipartisan committee tasked with identifying more than a trillion dollars in cuts in federal spending before Thanksgiving announced it will not be able to reach an agreement, triggering automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion from federal spending over 10 years, including an annual 2% cut to Medicare providers.

The 12-member bipartisan panel was created by a debt deal passed in early August. Panel members were supposed to agree on how to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal budget. If they failed to reach a deal, a fail-safe mechanism mandated by the debt bill would automatically cut $1.2 trillion from federal spending.

Now those automatic cuts are a reality.

Under the trigger, payments to Medicare providers will be cut 2% across the board, starting in 2013. Medicare beneficiaries, meanwhile, will be shielded from the cuts.

Read the full story at: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Medicare/29839

Source: Medpage Today