House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized President Trump on Monday for proposing “savage” cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in his new budget for fiscal 2021.
“The budget is a statement of values, and once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “Less than a week after promising to protect families’ health care in his State of the Union address, the president is now brazenly inflicting savage multi-billion-dollar cuts to Medicare and Medicaid — at the same time that he is fighting in federal court to destroy protections for people with pre-existing conditions and dismantle every other protection and benefit of the Affordable Care Act.”
The $4.8 trillion budget calls for Medicare to grow by 6% and Medicaid to increase by 3%, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said Monday.
“The president’s been very clear: There will be no change to the benefits of Social Security and Medicare,” Mr. Vought said on Fox News. “This budget complies with that promise.”
He said there are some “changes to mandatory programs,” such as lowering the cost of a CAT scan under Medicare and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
The White House proposes to cut spending by $4.4 trillion over a decade, saying it would put the government on a path to balance the budget in 15 years. The proposed cuts include $2 trillion in savings from mandatory programs, such as $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, and $292 billion from safety-net cuts such as expanded work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps.
SEE ALSO: Trump budget cuts $4.4 trillion from Medicare, discretionary spending
The spending plan, for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, would cut non-defense spending overall by 5%.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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