Hospital groups protest cuts in Trump budget

https://www.apnews.com/802d8f5b7511498e8fb868f57cb77852

Mar. 11, 2019

Hospital groups are objecting strongly to hundreds of billions of dollars in proposed Medicare and Medicaid payment cuts in President Donald Trump’s budget.

Two major hospital trade groups did not mince words in blog posts Monday by their leaders.

Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, is calling proposed Medicare cuts “arbitrary and blunt,” adding, “the impact on care for seniors would be devastating.”

American Hospital Association President Rick Pollack says the budget raises “serious concerns about how hospitals and health systems can ensure they serve as the safety net” for patients.

The budget includes a range of hospital cuts over 10 years, including reduced reimbursements for uncompensated care and lower rates for outpatient departments.

Medicare will spend about $650 billion this year. The administration says it’s targeting waste.

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Anti-AIDS activists are condemning proposed cuts for worldwide efforts to fight the disease in President Donald Trump’s new budget request.

Activists say the global cuts are at cross-purposes with the $291 million in additional spending that Trump has requested for an effort to virtually eliminate new HIV infections in the United States.

The budget calls for a 22 percent cut to PEPFAR, the U.S. program that has helped treat millions internationally, mostly in Africa, according to The ONE Campaign. That global health advocacy organization is associated with the musician Bono.

Trump is also proposing to change the financing formula another program, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, so that the U.S. contribution is watered down. The budget calls for $1.1 billion for the Global Fund, down from $1.35 billion, the current level as reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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