Budget

The Trump administration pledged in its 2018 budget to offer more clarity on use of value-based payment and to foster the exchange of preapproval information between industry and payers, which two industry groups view as tracking with a drug pricing policy slate unveiled by a coalition of drug makers and payers last week.

The president's proposed 2018 budget achieves most of its entitlement and healthcare savings from cuts to Medicaid, according to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, and the president also proposes policies that would significantly cut federal funding of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The president's fiscal 2018 budget would create an HHS Emergency Response Fund to quickly respond to public health threats.

The Trump administration budget banks $250 billion in net deficit savings over 10 years on the assumption that Congress will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to HHS budget documents posted briefly on Monday prior to their official release.

President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposes cutting FDA's discretionary budget authority by $854 million -- a shortfall that Trump says would be made up if lawmakers agree to his request to double user fees, despite the fact lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have to date rejected that proposal.

Lawmakers, government officials and advocacy groups are warning cuts to HHS, FDA and the National Institutes of Health could severely damage public health and medical research as they brace for President Donald Trump's full fiscal 2018 budget request to be released later this month.

Key House Republicans are signaling they may push additional Medicaid cuts and Medicare reforms as part of the 2018 budget.

The congressional government-spending agreement guarantees the Trump administration would be in control of Medicare cuts if the Independent Payment Advisory Board is triggered this year because the spending deal defunds IPAB.

Along with the release of a fiscal 2017 spending deal Monday (May 1), lawmakers released explanatory language weighing in on several CMS issues, including calling for a full audit of air emergency transport, mitigation of the reduced rates for critical access hospitals, and a loosening of agency policy on hospitals that didn't get their fair share of incentive payments through the Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program.