Long-term care providers found little to like in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for 2019, ranging from Medicare cuts to the elimination of government groups such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
“While the document’s language suggests support to Medicaid and Medicare, details to back up that claim are lacking,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in February. “What we do know: The budget proposes Medicaid per capita caps and block grants, which LeadingAge continues to oppose.”
While many of the president’s budget priorities will never see the light of day, Sloan said Trump’s budget “prioritizes cuts to pro- grams important to older adults.”
The budget proposes eliminating 22 agencies and programs, including AHRQ, which works on projects such as pressure ulcer prevention. Also up for possible cuts is Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, with funding proposed to drop from $60 million to $38 million in fiscal 2019.
From the March 01, 2018 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
