President Donald Trump released his $4.75 trillion budget for fiscal year 2020 on March 11. The proposal, titled “A Budget for a Better America: Promises Kept. Taxpayers First,” calls for reductions to Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years and includes provisions related to drug pricing and many other health-related issues.
Below are five healthcare-related proposals in the president’s budget:
1. Discretionary funding for HHS. The budget requests $87.1 billion in discretionary spending for HHS, a 12 percent decrease from 2019 funding levels.
2. Efforts to curb HIV. Keeping with President Trump’s promise in his State of the Union address to end the spread of HIV in the U.S. over the next decade, the budget plan calls for HHS to receive $291 million next year to help curb the spread of the virus. A large portion of the funding — $140 million — would go to the CDC to improve diagnosis and testing for HIV in areas of the U.S. where the virus is continuing to infect people not getting proper treatment.
3. Broad overhaul of Medicaid. Under the budget, nearly $1.5 trillion would be cut from Medicaid over 10 years. However, the budget seeks $1.2 trillion over the next decade for block grants or per-person caps that would start in 2021, according to The Washington Post. The budget plan would also end funding for Medicaid expansion.
4. Medicare funding changes. Under the budget, Medicare spending would be reduced by an estimated $800 billion over 10 years. The budget would reduce the growth of various Medicare provider payments and includes changes aimed at addressing waste and abuse in healthcare and lowering drug prices, according to The Washington Post.
5. Medical research. The plan includes a proposal to cut $897 million from the National Cancer Institute’s budget and an additional $1 billion in cuts to other institutes that do medical research, according to Politico.
Read the full budget plan here.
HENRY KOTULA 