Trump Signs 2018 Budget, With Some Big Wins for Healthcare

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to receive $78 billion, a $10 billion increase. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services(CMS) would receive $4 billion for administrative expenses, which congressional appropriators said  is the same as in 2017, and "sufficient to maintain all core operations and services.

The bill does not provide new funding for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and continues to block the federal government from funding the risk corridor program, which seeks to protect insurance companies from higher than expected costs on the state insurance exchanges.

The bill would also require CMS to notify congressional committees 2 days before any ACA-related data or grant opportunities are released to the public; require the administration to publish ACA-related spending by category since its inception; and require the administration to publish information on the number of employees, contractors, and activities related to the ACA.

Opioid Crisis, Mental Health Big Winners

Funding to address the opioid crisis was given a $2.55 billion, or 244%, increase, to $3.6 billion. Still, that is far less than the $10 billion annually that many healthcare and substance use providers and public health officials have said is necessary.

After first suggesting he may veto the new budget bill passed by Congress yesterday, President Donald J. Trump signed the huge $1.3 trillion budget bill today that will fund the federal government through the rest of its fiscal 2018 year, including some big increases for health programs and money to fight the opioid crisis, flouting cuts that had been called for by the president.

Trump had threatened to veto the bill because it did not include money for some of his signature requests, including a wall on the border with Mexico and a fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has allowed some children who were brought to the United States illegally to stay in the country.

The House of Representatives approved the bill by a 256-167 vote yesterday and the Senate approved it 65-32 late last night,  after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) relented on his apparent threat to withhold his vote over what he called excessive spending.






Trump Signs 2018 Budget, With Some Big Wins for Healthcare