2016 Budget plans will have both improvements and challenges for Medicare and Medicaid providers.
On Monday, February 2, 2015, President Barack Obama released the 2016 Federal budget. It reveals plans for saving federal money on Medicaid and Medicare which will have both improvements and challenges for providers.
The budget aims to continue the decrease in Medicare and Medicaid spending. This has often been a point of contention for the American Medical Association (AMA) and providers, as it had not been made clear until the release of the budget how the spending decrease would be achieved.
The budget proposes the following to improve payment efficiency in the Medicare program:
Improving payment accuracy for Medicare Advantage plans
Constraining Medicare cost growth
Aligning payments to teaching hospitals with patient care costs
Addressing excess payments for Medicare Part B drugs to hospitals and physicians
The budget suggests that the above changes would save approximately $222 billion within 10 years.
It also proposes to reduce Medicare payme