April 2018

Trump Budget
Would Slash
Services for
Seniors
The president’s budget proposal will
have a big impact on the elderly if
Congress adopts it.
BY BETTIJANE LEVINE
Apresidential budget is a statement of principle, a road map to an
administration’s policy goals and its ideal funding levels for specific
departments. And President Trump’s budget priorities would have a big
impact on seniors in the coming decade if adopted by Congress. Here’s what you
need to know:
Trump’s proposal would reportedly cut funding to many departments the elderly
depend on. It would cut the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees
all federal healthcare programs, by 20.3 percent, which would cut 30 percent of
the budget for food stamps (now known as SNAP), introducing “food packages” instead
of the current debit cards that can be used at markets. Also targeted for cuts of
hundreds of billions of dollars are Medicare and Medicaid (which benefit one-third
of all Americans); much of the federal healthcare budget would become the responsibility
of individual states, which are already struggling to meet residents’ needs.
The proposal would also cut multiple programs many financially challenged
seniors currently count on, such as heating and housing assistance. It would slash
certain prescription drug benefits and prohibit Medicare from fully negotiating
directly with pharmaceutical companies, which experts agree is the most effective
way to bring prices down. Millions of older people could wind up paying more than
they currently do for prescription drugs, analysts say, and fewer medications might
be covered.
On the plus side, Trump’s proposal would eliminate the 5 percent co-pay for sick
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