According to news media reports on the afternoon of Dec. 3, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH) on Monday afternoon sent a counter-offer to President Barack Obama on the President’s initial offer of last week, as part of the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations that congressional leaders and the White House have been engaging in, in order to avert asset of tax increases and spending cuts set to begin to be triggered on Jan. 2, 2013.

Among those reporting live on the development was Luke Russert, who said on the MSNBC network shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday that the package offered to President Obama by Speaker Boehner via a letter, included $600 billion in proposed healthcare savings, primarily taken out of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including through a proposal to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, as well as additional, unspecified Medicare and Medicaid program cuts. Among other elements in the package were $800 billion in “tax reform,” $200 billion in “entitlement scale revision,” and $300 billion in “mandatory savings,” as described to the news media that afternoon.

Healthcare Informatics will continue to update readers as additional developments occur in this ongoing legislative process.