Outcry over Trump’s cuts to Medicare hospital payments

The Capitol is seen amid leafless branches in Washington, Tuesday morning March 12, 2019. President Donald Trump's new budget proposal doubles down on his border wall and military spending as he faces a divided Congress and rifts within his own party. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON — As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump pledged not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Once in the White House, Trump reneged on his promise not to cut Medicaid for low-income people. Now he’s being criticized for steep Medicare payment cuts to hospitals proposed in his new budget.

The head of a major hospital association says in a blog that the impact on care for seniors would be “devastating.”

“Hospitals are less and less able to cover the cost of care for Medicare patients; it is no time to gut Medicare,” says Chip Kahn of the Federation of American Hospitals.

The budget calls for $845 billion over 10 years in Medicare spending reductions. The White House says that doesn’t reflect benefit cuts but makes better use of taxpayers’ dollars.

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, The Associated Press