Two week Budget deal makes big health care cuts

In a bipartisan attempt to postpone a government shutdown, House GOP and Democratic leaders have come to a tentative agreement on a continuing resolution that will fund the government for the next two weeks while cutting over $4 billion from the annual federal budget. GOP lawmakers removed many of the controversial cuts from their previously passed budget proposal and included many cuts that had already been proposed by President Obama.

This bill moves the deadline for a final deal from March 5^th to March 18th, but won’t make the deal any easier to reach. Republicans are still seeking an additional $57 billion in cuts to federal programs between now and September 30^th, when the government’s fiscal year ends.

Although the two-week continuing resolution leaves out many of the controversial spending cuts sought by Tea Party Republican, hundreds of millions of dollars from federal health care programs are included in the deal. This includes $21 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $15 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and $3 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The biggest health care cut is the nearly $400 million dollars from the Health Resources and Services Administration, a federal agency that provides grants to Community Health Centers and other organizations in order to improve access to health care services for people who are “uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.”

-- Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / House Appropriations Committee / HRSA.gov