On May 7, 2009, the Obama Administration released its additional details on its proposed federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2010, the outlines of which were unveiled in February 2009. Overall, the proposed budget would provide a total of $879 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in FY 2010, an estimated $63 billion increase over FY 2009. The Administration continues to advocate the establishment of a $635 billion reserve fund over 10 years to finance health reform, funded by Medicare and Medicaid savings in addition to new revenues. To strengthen Medicare's long-term sustainability, the budget seeks to align incentives toward quality, promote efficiency and accountability, and encourage shared responsibility. Key area for health program reforms include Medicare Advantage payments, hospital payments (including bundling payments to hospitals and certain post-acute providers for services provided within 30 days after discharge from the hospital, reduced payments for certain hospital readmissions, hospital pay-for-performance provisions, and restrictions on specialty hospitals), physician payments, imaging services, home health payments, Medicaid drug prices, among many others. In other areas, the budget stresses improvements in health quality and access to health care, increased funding for Medicare integrity and public health safety efforts.
