Language in both the House and Senate bills would reward hospitals for efficiency in their Medicare spending. This marks a dramatic change in the formula for distributing the funds, which can account for as much as half of a hospital's budget. That could prove to be a windfall for some hospitals but a significant loss of funding for others, mostly those in big cities and the South, the Washington Post reports. A revised Medicare formula represents a major lobbying victory for a coalition of hospitals based in the upper Midwest, led by the Mayo Clinic. Their leaders sent a letter to House members in July demanding Medicare reform, as well as objecting to a government-run insurance plan, the Post reports.
