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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today criticized the Administration’s 2007 budget for the proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other important healthcare programs. The President’s budget reduces Medicare by $36 billion over the next five years and by $105 billion over the next 10 years. This includes cuts in payments to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and ambulance services and increases in Medicare premiums for certain beneficiaries. In addition, the budget slashes Medicaid by $13.7 billion over the next five years.
“The Administration’s budget makes cuts to the Medicare program at a time when seniors, pharmacists and hospitals are struggling with the new Medicare prescription drug plan and that just doesn’t make sense,” Congressman Boyd said. “Seniors, children and people with disabilities depend on Medicare and Medicaid, and these cuts undermine these extremely beneficial programs.”
The President’s budget also underfunds the National Institutes of Health (NIH), our primary center for health research, by proposing an overall freeze to the NIH budget at the 2006 level. Additionally, the budget eliminates several key health programs, including the Preventive Health Block Grant, the Healthy Communities Access Program, the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program, and the Universal Newborn Screening Program.
“Families in North Florida are paying more than ever before for healthcare and prescription drugs,” Boyd stated. “Americans deserve a fiscally responsible budget that recognizes our need for affordable, quality healthcare, and I will work with my colleagues in Congress to adequately fund our healthcare programs.”
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