In 1997, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich shocked Washington by coming together to pass the Balanced Budget Act — a bipartisan deal that led to the first federal budget surplus in nearly 30 years.<br />But what did it really change?<br />This episode breaks down how the BBA cut $112 billion from Medicare, reshaped Medicaid, created Medicare+Choice (now Medicare Advantage), introduced the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), and paired healthcare cuts with $95 billion in tax breaks.Was it fiscal responsibility… or the beginning of a long-term shift toward privatization?<br />We’re diving into the 1995 government shutdown, the “Third Way,” rural hospital impacts, the Doc Fix crisis, and what critics like Bernie Sanders warned about on the House floor.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.stayskeptical.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.stayskeptical.com</a><br />Wise Wolf Gold: <a href="https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=jvujkwgs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=jvujkwgs</a><br />Sources: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcwvgWpPz8GqLxNwpeJM7AHqBJL2O3JWVdE8ggKK7_8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcwvgWpPz8GqLxNwpeJM7AHqBJL2O3JWVdE8ggKK7_8/edit?usp=sharing</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.stayskeptical.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.stayskeptical.com</a><br />Wise Wolf Gold: <a href="https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=jvujkwgs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=jvujkwgs</a><br />Sources: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcwvgWpPz8GqLxNwpeJM7AHqBJL2O3JWVdE8ggKK7_8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcwvgWpPz8GqLxNwpeJM7AHqBJL2O3JWVdE8ggKK7_8/edit?usp=sharing</a><br />