White House Releases FY 2019 Budget Request

President Trump today submitted to Congress his budget request for fiscal year 2019. The budget request, which is not binding, proposes hundreds of billions of dollars in reductions to Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years. “America’s hospitals and health systems believe that the federal budget should not weaken our national commitment to provide access to quality hospital and health system services that provide a lifeline for our patients and communities,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said in a statement. The budget request also contains a number of provisions related to drug pricing, opioids and other health-related issues, as well as infrastructure. In addition, the White House released an addendum to the budget request in order to reflect the two-year budget deal that was enacted last week.