Bipartisan deal reached for $1.2 trillion infrastructure package; longer Medicare sequestration listed as revenue source

A bipartisan group in the Senate yesterday reached a deal with President Biden on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework that forgoes tax increases as a funding source. Instead, the agreed-upon framework would partly tap into unspent CARES Act funds to pay for the package, along with extending the ongoing Medicare sequestration through 2031. 

In response to media inquiries Thursday, AHA Executive Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy Stacey Hughes said: “There should not be cuts to the Medicare program to pay for unrelated programs. Hospitals, health systems and physicians through the pandemic have dealt with unprecedented demands. Congress has recognized this in a variety of ways including eliminating the Medicare sequester in 2020 and 2021.”