Federation of American Hospitals President Chip Kahn says he is worried that a series of plans that may be considered by Congress and the White House in 2013 to reduce federal spending may be worse for hospitals than one large, sweeping "grand bargain" agreement between lawmakers and President Obama.

Kahn recently told me it may be harder for hospitals to affect the shape of a series of budget bills that quickly go through Congress, rather than if both sides negotiate one large agreement.

"It could be in some ways death by a thousand cuts," Kahn said of a series of deficit reduction bills moving through Congress.

Lawmakers and Obama are facing several deadlines early in 2013 that may result in agreements to cut federal spending, including Medicare and Medicaid. A delay in sequestration cuts contained in the fiscal cliff law expires in March, while Congress must vote to extend the federal government's legal authority to borrow money by the end of February. Republicans have said they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling limit unless it is accompanied by spending cuts. But Obama has said he will not negotiate federal spending levels using the debt ceiling as a backdrop. Finally, legislation temporarily extending funding for federal government programs expires at the end of March.