A two-year budget deal agreed upon last month by Congress, and later signed by the President, increased federal spending for defense, as expected. What came as a bit of a surprise though was the increased funding for a number of health-related programs including those that help seniors and those with special needs.
Included in the increased funding was $6 million in treatment of mental health issues and opioid addiction, a $2 billion addition to the National Institutes of Health and a four-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). That is over and above the six years approved by Congress earlier.
Seniors fared well, too, with an acceleration of the closing of the doughnut hole in Medicare drug coverage. The so-called doughnut hole currently requires seniors to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket before any catastrophic coverage begins.
Another Medicare benefit is the elimination of the Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board. While members were never appointed to the board, it was intended to hold down Medicare spending if it exceeded certain levels.
What was not included in the budget deal was any effort to increase funding for the Affordable Care Act’s individual health insurance marketplaces. While Senate leaders promised a vote on that issue when the tax legislation was passed in December that has not yet happened.
Overall this legislation came as a somewhat surprising act of bipartisanship, and it is good news for seniors and those with special needs.