ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250057
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Administration officials and Republican lawmakers said they will agree on at least a $100 billion savings plan this year to hold off the breakdown until 2008.
Medicare trustees said Thursday the program providing health care to more than 38 million senior citizens is still headed for bankruptcy in 2001, unless Congress and the White House act immediately.
Clinton administration officials and Republican lawmakers said they will agree on at least a $100 billion savings plan this year to hold off the financial collapse of Medicare until 2008. That would buy time to consider longer-range reforms, such as increased competition among health care providers serving Medicare beneficiaries.
``We believe that will happen this year, in this budget, because anything else is unacceptable to us,'' said Donna Shalala, the health and human services secretary.
Sen. William Roth, R-Del., the Senate Finance Committee chairman, said Republicans and Democrats are trying to work out a compromise on Medicare savings proposals ranging from $100 to about $115 million. Savings would come mainly from scaling back planned increases in payments to health care providers.
The Medicare trustees in their annual report pegged the program's crisis date about half a year later than their prediction last year - pushing it from early to late 2001. They acknowledged their estimates aren't precise enough to make that a significant difference.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB