The associations say that they agreed to gradually slow spending and did not agree to specific year-to-year cuts.
Richard Pollack, vice president of the American Hospital Association, said in a bulletin that the AHA did not support the “Obama health plan” or budget and that the associations had agreed to cut spending so that it would eventually be 1.5 percentage points lower, according to the report. This statement was confirmed by other represented in the report.
Representatives from state healthcare associations in Louisiana and New York expressed concerns over cost controls as their states are already struggling with reduced Medicare reimbursement rates and severe cost constraints, according to the report.
Read the New York Times report about the discrepancy over the healthcare associations’ cost control pledge.
