Republicans Unveil Budget Plan That Includes Cuts To Medicare

Republicans have unveiled a fiscal year 2009 budget plan that includes cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in response to the Democrats' $3 trillion budget proposal (H. Con. Res. 312) that would increase funding for many domestic programs, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to the AP/Chronicle, the "rival budget plans display the difficult trade-offs facing the next president, who must weigh tax cuts that expire at the end of 2010 with popular spending programs like education, highway construction and Medicare."

The Republicans' plan would retain income tax rate cuts proposed by President Bush and approved by Congress, as well as tax breaks for married couples, people with children, on investments and people inheriting large estates. The plan would be paid for through significant cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. The House and Senate are expected to vote on the budget resolution this week.

The budget resolution "sets the stage" for follow-up legislation on taxes and benefit programs such as Medicare and for the 12 appropriations bills, according to the AP/Chronicle. However, unless such legislation is passed, "the budget debate has little real effect and is mostly about making statements about party priorities," the AP/Chronicle reports. According to the AP/Chronicle, in election years, "Congress invariably leaves alone difficult budget issues such as the unsustainable growth in benefit programs such as Medicare" and focuses on appropriation bills, but even action on those bills could be delayed because of "hard feelings" between Democrats and Republicans (Taylor, AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/12).

In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday during a speech to the National League of Cities' Congressional Conference said that House Democrats will look to include more funding for domestic programs, including health care, than Bush has requested (Hess, CongressDaily, 3/12).

NIH
Flat NIH funding for the past five years has resulted in the agency awarding fewer research grants, in addition to younger scientists being overlooked, according to a study released on Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. The study, which was co-authored by seven research institutions, was presented to lawmakers at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. According to the study, although Congress doubled NIH's research budget from 1998 to 2003, funding has remained flat for the past five years.

Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust said, "The current system is discouraging (young scientists) from entering or remaining in academic biomedical research." Faust added, "We may be creating a climate where (the U.S.'s) position as the primary destination for the best and brightest researchers from around the world may be challenged." Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said Congress needs to increase NIH funding to make up for the past five years, adding that although the $29.5 billion requested by Bush for fiscal year 2009 "sounds like a lot ... really that's a couple of weeks in Iraq." Samuel Rankin, the associate executive director of the American Mathematical Society, emphasized the need for consistent funding, not simply an increase. He said, "It is better to fund at a consistent rate than to ramp up and then see the deterioration of all that was built" (Lubbes, CQ HealthBeat, 3/11).

At a press conference on Tuesday, officials from several schools said flat funding at NIH is stalling biomedical research at U.S. universities. According to Nancy Andrews, dean of Duke University's Medical School, younger researchers are most affected by the funding problems because they are competing with researchers who have established labs. She said, "Their chances aren't good in that situation, and it's discouraging when you look at the odds," adding, "Many will leave and practice medicine full time, which is fine, but others move out of the field entirely" (Simmons, Raleigh News & Observer, 3/12).

American Public Media's "Marketplace Morning Report" on Tuesday reported on scientists who are lobbying for increased funding for biomedical research in the NIH budget. The segment includes comments from David Farb of Boston University and Jill Rafael-Fortney of Ohio State University (Hobson, "Marketplace Morning Report," American Public Media, 3/11). Audio and a transcript of the segment are available online.