In a deal expected to be officially announced on Wednesday, July 8, the U.S. hospital industry has agreed to provide $155 billion in savings to help pay for health care reform, Ceci Connolly and Michael Shear write in today’s Washington Post.

The agreement, reached between the White House, the Senate Finance Committee, and three major hospital groups, calls for the savings to be phased in over a ten-year period. From The Post:

Most of the savings—about $100 billion—would come through lower-than-expected Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals, said the two industry sources. About $40 billion would be saved by slowly reducing what hospitals get to care for the uninsured, they added. The reductions would probably not begin for several years after a significant number of people have enrolled in the new insurance programs.

In addition, the three hospital groups involved in negotiations—the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, and the Federation of American Hospitals—were assured that should final legislation include a public insurance option, it would pay providers above Medicare and Medicaid rates.

A source close to the negotiations said a deal was struck after discussions about the "shared responsibility" of the entire health-care system—including doctors, insurers, individuals and the government—and an understanding that each part of the system would sacrifice to make it work.