Healthcare Education and Q&A Thread

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by saden1

The 2009 budget allocated 262 billion for Medicaid and 425 billion Medicare. The 2010 Obama budget requests 290 billion for Medicaid (+11% from previous year) and 452 billion for Medicare (+6% from previous year) be allocated.

BTW Bush's original 2009 budget for Medicaid and Medicare had to be supplemented. My 2009 Death and Taxes poster says he originally budgeted 215 billion for Medicaid and 409 billion for Medicare.

You're right and I misspoke. He's proposing an increase for 2010, but the budget in place now (calendar year 2009) includes no increase.

Healthcare's fiscal year (including Medicare and Medicaid) runs July - June. As we just now enter FY 2010, there is no increase for either Medicare or Medicaid. But I suppose that stems from Bush's final budget, not Obama's.

There may be increases in FY 2011 thanks to Obama's 2010 budget. Of course to pay for it, an income tax increase will be required. And it's not that reimbursement will go up, it's more likely that more people will covered, resulting in the expected increase.