Rep. Ed Towns: Seniors Should Not Have to Pay for Joint Committee's Failure

Congressman Ed Towns (NY-10) introduced a bill last night that attempts to keep Medicare off the chopping block of the next looming round of budget cuts.

The bill, H.R. 3519, will exempt Medicare providers from pending cuts through sequestration—that is, protect Medicare against across-the-board budget reductions resulting from last week’s failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to agree upon a plan.

The Budget Control Act of 2011, Public Law No: 112-25, established a requirement that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction create a plan that would exact at least $1.2 trillion in cuts to the federal budget.

The failure of the committee to propose any sort of plan now has triggered across-the-board budget reductions – 50 percent to defense and 50 percent to non-defense, including up to 2 percent, or $123 billion in cuts, to Medicare providers.

“Hospitals in New York are already slated to experience $15 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts under the Affordable Care Act over the next ten years. If sequestration occurs, hospitals will lose another $2.6 billion – or over $116 million in my district alone,” stated Rep. Towns, whose district represents the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Cypress Hills, East New York and Canarsie.

If passed, HR 3519 would reverse any pending cuts to Medicare providers through sequestration.

The bill will be sent to a committee. However, according to Towns's press secretary Charles Lewis, with a Republicans House majority, it will probably not reach the floor for a vote. Towns felt it was important to take a stand and send a message to his colleagues, said Lewis.