The Deficit Reduction Act, approved by the Senate and up for a vote in the House on Wednesday, would cut $99.3 billion from federal programs from 2006 to 2015, which includes reducing Medicaid spending by $28.3 billion and cutting Medicare spending by $22.4 billion. The Act would require a fifth of Medicaid enrollees to pay higher co-payments and more for prescription drugs, according to a New York Times article that cites a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). (Click here to download the 80-page CBO report.) The CBO estimates that the higher co-pays will force 45,000 Medicaid enrollees out of the program in 2010 and 65,000 to drop out of Medicaid in 2015. Of those affected, 60% would be children. Physicians and hospitals would not be obligated to treat Medicaid patients who failed to pay their co-payments, says the CBO.
