To help cover Affordable Care Act costs, the 2016 budget proposal submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services for the fiscal year 2016 would reduce Medicare spending by about $400 billion through lower payments to providers, health insurers, and drug companies.
The overall 2016 federal budget submitted by President Obama includes some cost increases for Medicare recipients. They include some new co-payments for home care services and a premium surcharge for new beneficiaries who buy private insurance plans with generous benefits to supplement Medicare.
The administration also wants the power to negotiate prices with drug companies for “specialty” drugs that require large co-payments from patients.
TheHHS budget request includes about $1.09 trillion for fiscal 2016, up from $1.04 trillion in fiscal 2015.
The Administration’s proposed 2016 budget extends funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program(CHIP) through 2019. That funding expires Sept. 30. Unless Congress acts, over 8 million children would lose health Insurance coverage.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell said the administration’s 2016 proposal will “provide Americans with the building blocks of healthy, productive lives” and to reduce the rate of increase in Medicare costs.
Potential savings would come from proposals to fight prescription drug abuse, establish new healthcare clinics, increase the health care workforce and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare, she said.