Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to Begin Meeting This Week
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction will hold their first official meeting on September 8th followed by their first public hearing on September 13th. Director Douglas Elmendorf from the Office of Management and Budget will testify at this hearing. The Committee will also discuss ground-rules for their work and procedures they will follow throughout their deficit reduction negotiations. The Joint Select Committee was created in the Budget Control Act of 2011. It is tasked with recommending $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions by November 23. Congress must then choose to accept or reject their recommendations by December 23. If the Committee fails to identify reductions or if Congress fails to pass the budget modifications, an automatic budget "sequester" will be implemented to produce the savings. The sequester will produce uniform, across-the-board cuts, including 2% from all Medicare reimbursements. Medicaid would be unaffected by the sequestration. NRHA continues to advocate for rural providers, patients, and facilities. NRHA was successful in preventing immediate cuts to rural health care as part of the automatic cuts contained in the Budget Control Act of 2011. It is, nonetheless, vital that all rural providers continue their efforts to contact their representatives and senators. Information on how to contact your member of Congress is available here. Continue to monitor this blog for information relating to the ongoing negotiations of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Please contact NRHA government affairs at (202) 639-0550 with any questions.