12/29/09 HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: At the heart of health care legislation is a paradox. Both the Senate and House bills squeeze a half-trillion dollars from Medicare over the next 10 years to offset the cost of covering the uninsured. At the same time, this money would shore up the Medicare trust fund to cover older Americans in the future. How can Medicare savings mean both more money available to spend now and more money to spend later?