White House Releases Budget Proposal

Today, Monday, February 12, the White House has released its budget proposal for 2019. As a reminder, the President’s budget request is considered a guiding document, or a wish list, which showcases his priorities. Under the Constitution, the ultimate decision on which programs receive funding and how much they receive belongs to Congress – this process is called appropriations. Congress is in the midst of determining appropriations following its passage of a 2-year bipartisan deal to fund the government last week.

Please see below for a snippet from Politico Pro regarding the White House’s proposal regarding Medicaid:

“On Medicaid, the administration wants to rescind Obamacare’s expansion, instead endorsing a plan to provide health care funding in block grants to states. The budget also proposes making it easier for states to move toward managed care, charge patients higher co-pays for emergency room visits and bolster requirements that Medicaid recipients show immigration status before enrolling.”

ANCOR will report more on relevant health care proposals once it has concluded its analysis of the bill.

Other non-health care aspects of the proposal that could attract attention from the media and policy-makers include:

• An infrastructure proposal that includes increasing road tolls and reducing regulations;
• An opioid funding request;
• A request for veterans’ health funding; and
• Requests for deep cuts to domestic programs such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

ANCOR is monitoring the entire budget process and will keep its members informed of significant developments for providers.