Trade legislation clears Senate with Medicare sequester offset

The Senate Friday voted 62-37 to approve trade legislation (H.R.1314) that would impose additional sequestration cuts on Medicare. To pay for the cost of extending the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, the legislation includes language that would extend the Medicare sequester to the last six months of 2024, increasing the amount cut by $700 million, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. The AHA, American Medical Association, American Health Care Association, and National Association for Home Care & Hospice have urged lawmakers to strike the provision. “Hospitals, physicians, nursing homes and home health and hospice providers have already absorbed hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the Medicare program in recent years," they noted. “Additionally alarming is the use of Medicare cuts to pay for non-Medicare related legislation, a precedent that we believe is unwise.” The House is expected to consider the legislation next month.