Trump budget proposes steep health care cuts

President Trump’s budget proposal would cut the Department of Health and Human Services’ funding by more than 20% next year, on top of nearly $300 billion in long-term savings from Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs.

Yes, but: No matter who the president is, presidential budgets are wish lists. These aren’t real cuts unless and until Congress makes them. And a lot of these cuts — like repealing the Affordable Care Act — are not going to happen any time soon.

The details: Trump’s budget outline calls for …

• Repealing the Affordable Care Act.
• Cutting federal Medicaid spending via a new system of capped payments.
• A handful of new steps to lower the cost of prescription drugs, mostly in line with what the White House previewed last week.
• Folding the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, along with some programs now housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, into the National Institutes of Health.
• Cutting the CDC’s budget by $878 million next year, while increasing the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $663 million and the National Institutes of Health by roughly $700 million.
• Provide $10 billion, across HHS, for programs to combat the opioid epidemic.

Go deeper: Read HHS’ full budget brief here.