Gee, I wonder why? Politico (via alert reader MOBlue at TalkLeft):

After weeks of talk, the White House began circulating draft legislation Wednesday spelling out President Barack Obama's proposal that Congress surrender much of its authority over payment rates for Medicare to a new executive agency.

The proposed five-member Independent Medicare Advisory Council would be charged with making two annual reports dictating updated rates for Medicare providers including physicians, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health and durable medical equipment. Congress could block the recommendations only if lawmakers agreed within 30 days on a resolution, and the greater veto power would lie with the White House itself.

The new council would be appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate; those confirmed would serve terms of five years and would typically be physicians or have specialized expertise in health policy.

And I think we know what kind of "specialized expertise" is going to be important, don't we?

As further evidence of the shift in power, the White House appears to be making side deals already with health interests, worried about the increased power of the proposed payment-setting council.

Hospitals, for example, recently pledged billions in 10-year savings to help move along Obama’s healthcare reform agenda. But as part of that package, the hospital lobby is claiming it also won a side-bar agreement that if the new “Med PAC on steroids” is created, hospitals would enjoy special protection for the next decade.

Asked how this could be enforced given the legislative text circulated Wednesday, one lobbyist said simply the administration would “dictate” to the new council.

Well, I guess that's why the administration didn't embrace "Medicare for All." They plan to gut Medicare. Thanks, "progressives"!

Honestly, though I deplore Randall Terry's objectives, his tactics -- throwing blood, images of the dead -- have a lot to recommend them.

NOTE The implementation date is 2014. Interestingly, that's one year after the so-called "public option" would go into effect in 2013. I guess after the initial cut, where they find out how many people actually fall for the public option crap, they'll start cutting Medicare to force more people to buy insurance from the health insurance companies?

UPDATE Why do I think this is one of these horrible ideas that we all ignore because it's insane, and that turns into conventional wisdom in about six months?