Super Committee Fails – Congress Looks to Finish 2011 Business - November 22, 2011

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also referred to as the super committee) failed to meet its mandate of recommending policies to reduce the federal budget deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Committee members were stymied by profound disagreements about how to deal with entitlement spending and taxes – in particular, tax cuts passed a decade ago under President George W. Bush. On Monday, the super committee released a statement saying that it would not be able to vote on a deal by the Nov. 23 deadline. With the failure of the super committee, the Budget Control Act stipulates across-the-board cuts to federal spending starting in 2013, which will save $1.2 trillion. Half of the cuts will come from domestic spending and half from defense spending, though some on Capitol Hill are calling for reduced or eliminated cuts to defense programs. Medicaid is exempt from the across-the-board cuts, and Medicare cuts are limited to 2 percent of program spending.

With the super committee process drawing to a close, Congress is diverting its attention to other unfinished business for 2011. In particular, nine appropriations bills remain unfinished – including the bill funding the Department of Health and Human Services. Congress must also pass a fix to the broken Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula to stop a massive Medicare payment reduction to physicians in 2012. NAPH is advocating for Congress to fix the SGR while protecting Medicaid and other hospital payments.