Federal Budget

This Kaiser Family Foundation webinar for journalists examined President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget request, how it will impact existing U.S. global health programs and specific countries around the globe, and how it fits into the larger foreign policy efforts of the U.S. government.

On March 4, 2014, the Office of Management and Budget released President Obama’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2015, which includes provisions related to federal spending and revenues, including Medicare savings. The President’s budget would use federal savings and revenues to reduce the federal debt and replace sequestration of Medicare and other federal programs for 2015 through 2024. This brief summarizes the Medicare provisions included in the President’s budget proposal for FY 2015.

This budget analysis reviews U.S. funding for global health programs included in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill signed into law on January 17, 2014. It examines funding by program area as well as trends over time.

As policymakers consider ways to slow the growth in Medicare spending as part of broader efforts to reduce the federal debt or offset the cost of other spending priorities, some have proposed to increase beneficiary contributions through higher Medicare premiums. This issue brief explains provisions of current law that impose income-related premiums under Medicare Part B and Part D, describes recent proposals to modify these requirements, and analyzes the potential implications for the Medicare population.

This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of Medicare provisions included in broad-based packages to reduce the deficit and debt put forward by the President and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees. In addition, this brief summarizes Medicare provisions included in other deficit- and debt- reduction proposals released since January 2012 and describes recent activities that pertain to Medicare and the federal budget, including Medicare’s role in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the fiscal cliff and sequestration.

The 2013 Survey of Americans on the U.S. Role in Global Health examines the American public’s views, knowledge and opinions of U.S. efforts to improve health for people in developing countries. The fifth in a series that began in 2009, the survey explores the public’s views on global health spending and foreign aid, their priorities for the U.S. in world affairs, and the attention they pay to the issue of health in developing countries.