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To the editor:
If you believe all Americans deserve access to quality health care, no matter what their age or economic status, please take note: The Office of Management and Budget has proposed new cuts of $7 billion to the Medicare (medical insurance for elderly and disabled) and Medicaid (medical insurance for the poor) programs.
The dollars Congress are considering cutting to reduce the federal deficit are dollars that you have paid to the government to guarantee that you will have access to medical coverage after age 65 or if you become disabled.
The availability of health care is something most of us take for granted in America. However, if cuts to Medicare and Medicaid programs continue, the future could bring major changes
Medicare, which makes up approximately nine percent of the federal budget, suffered 36 percent of the cuts in the 1988 budget. These cuts may have not yet been felt directly by the Medicare patients. Instead it is the hospitals that have felt “the knife.”
Medicare represents 37 percent of the net revenue in Virginia hospitals. In 1986, 34 percent of Virginia hospitals lost money caring for Medicare patients. By 1990, it is projected that this number will climb to almost 70 percent of Virginia hospitals. Could you stay in business long if your largest customer paid less than what your product/service costs
79.7%