- It giveth and it taketh away: Although the Obama Administration’s budget proposal for fiscal 2012 calls for boosts for the Centers for Disease Control, the Food & Drug Administration and the National Institutes for Health, it freezes other healthcare-related spending and cuts $1.3 billion from the Dept. of Health & Human Services.
- It spends $500 million on healthcare reform: The budget includes $465 million to implement provisions of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act — including more than $300 million for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- The Doc Fix – er, never mind: The budget would delay — again — a huge cut to Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians from Jan. 1, 2012, until Jan. 1, 2014 (rates would be frozen as-is until then). The fix would be paid for (and then some) by reducing the Medicaid provider tax threshold, reducing Medicaid reimbursement for durable medical equipment and creating faster routes to market for generic drugs.
- It squeezes pharma: Speaking of speeding generics to market, the budget also restricts the "pay-for-delay" deals Big Pharma makes with smaller makers to generics off the market.
- It’s nicer to the FDA than the GOP’s budget: Obama would give the FDA $2.7 billion, nearly 29 percent more than the Republican proposal of $2.1 billion.
