Highlights of the Obama Administration’s Budget on Health Care

Highlights of the Obama Administration’s Budget on Health Care

In his address to Congress on February 24, 2009, President Obama made health care a top priority, stating that the high cost of medical care now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds. “Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold,” the president said.

On February 26, President Obama released his first budget, which contains a major commitment to health care reform. He proposed a “health care reserve fund” to finance extending quality, affordable health care to every American, with an initial down payment of $634 billion over 10 years. The money allocated would cover a little more than half of the cost to implement the comprehensive health care reform plan he proposed during the presidential campaign, and his administration made clear that they will work with Congress to find the rest of the funding.

Here are some of the specific elements of the proposed budget that would impact the work CIR residents do and our ability to care for our patients:

The budget allocates funding for:

Accelerating the adoption of health information technology and the utilization of electronic health records.
Expanding research comparing the effectiveness of medical treatments to give patients and physicians better information on what works best.
Investing $330 million to increase the number of doctors, nurses, and dentists practicing in areas of the country experiencing shortages of health professionals.
Expanding loan repayment programs for physicians, nurses, and dentists who agree to practice in medically underserved areas.
Lowering prescription drug costs and strengthening FDA regulations.
Provides resources to reduce health disparities, which the President has identified as an important goal of his administration.

The budget now goes to Congress for hearings, debate and amendment. The Senate Committees on Finance and Health, Education and Labor have already begun initial hearings to begin the process of crafting on comprehensive health care reform legislation.