Budget bottom line is the bottom line.(Bush Administration Budget)

Publication: Medicine & Health

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 Thomson Financial Inc.

With the federal budget deficit high, the Bush administration's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal arrived on Capitol Hill Feb. 7 directing lawmakers to keep an extraordinarily tight rein on domestic spending in 2005.

While health fares better than some areas, such as housing and education, the budget calls for cuts to many programs, especially those that don't provide "direct health services" to citizens. All in all, the proposal reflects one key fact: The federal government is short on money and won't be raising taxes to get any more.

Asked by a reporter Feb. 7 why the budget slates the Administration on Aging for no funding increase over last year even though the agency has programs that facilitate a Bush administration priority, developing home- and community-based options for long term care, Department of Health and Human Services chief budget officer Kerry Weems suggested that the reporter examine the funding lines for other programs that fare much worse. "Looking at discretionary funding that goes down, flat funding is a pretty good deal," he...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.