The health-reform narrative of industry playing ball with Washington rolls on. The WSJ , Washington Post and New York Times add detail today on that $155 billion in projected savings that hospital groups and Washington Dems are about to announce. The WSJ story also says health insurers are talking to Senate negotiators about cuts worth at least $100 billion over 10 years. These deals are in the same mold as the $80 billion deal announced last month by the drug industry. The 10-year time frame is key for health care these

days, as everybody wants to keep the cost of health reform under $1 trillion over the course of the next decade. Most of the savings in the hospital deal would come through lower-than-expected Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals, the WaPo says. In return, hospital officials have been told that if the health bill includes new a government-sponsored insurance program, it will pay more than Medicare and Medicaid, according to the WaPo.

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Savings From Hospitals, Insurers & Pharma Could Top $300 Billion