Democrats’ Hypocrisy on Spending Restraints and Entitlement Reform
The Hill reports that outside advocacy groups (i.e., lobbyists) have been invited to a meeting this afternoon regarding proposed changes to the Medicaid program. Topics for discussion include “threatened changes to the Medicaid program, including global spending caps, a block grant, the loss of the maintenance of effort requirement (the Medicaid MOE), and other cuts to the Medicaid program that may be contemplated during budget negotiations.”
The article from The Hill notes that “the invitation…criticizes global spending caps” and “offers the strongest evidence yet that Democrats intend to fight” Medicaid reforms. But there’s only one problem with the message: Democrats who claim to oppose “global spending caps” in Medicaid voted for global caps in Medicare as part of Obamacare. Specifically, Section 3403 of the law enacts a global budget for Medicare, and empowers a new board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to enforce these spending restraints.
So it’s worth asking: Why are global spending caps acceptable for Medicare but not Medicaid? If Democrats oppose “global spending caps” so much because they impede access, why did they vote to impose them as part of Obamacare? Or do Democrats support global spending caps when they’re used to finance new entitlements, but NOT when they’re used to reduce the deficit?