Obama's Big Health Cuts

Another big step towards universal healthcare: Obama will make $313 billion in health care cuts over the next 10 years in order to free up money for the uninsured. This marks a new total of $950 billion in health cuts he’s announced so far—closer to the $1 trillion experts say he’ll need for his health care plan to work. These big cuts may help reassure lawmakers worried about the impact of Obama's plan on the deficit, but will likely raise opposition from big health care providers. Obama would rein in reimbursement for drug companies, for example, cutting $75 billion on the Medicare Prescription drug program alone. But the new cuts will affect hospitals most. “If more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance,” Obama said in his weekly radio address.