Despite campaign promises not to slash Medicare, President Donald Trump's budget proposal lists $266 billion in cuts, including changes to prescription drug plans and a freeze on nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels, The Washington Post reports.
In her nationally syndicated personal finance column The Color of Money — headlined: "Attention seniors, Trump's budget is coming for your Medicare benefits" — Michelle Singletary says the budget proposal is bad news for seniors and low-income people.
"Trump released his 2019 budget last week, and it included $266 billion in cuts to Medicare, which provides health insurance to 58 million Americans 65 and older and people with certain disabilities" she wrote.
She referred to a column by Howard Gleckman, a personal finance contributor to Forbes, which said:
- The Medicare drug benefit would be restructured to reduce expenses for people with high prescription drug costs but increase out-of-pocket expenses for others.
- Most funding would be frozen for programs that provide money for social and nutrition services for seniors including Meals on Wheels.
- Federal block grants states use to fund senior programs would be eliminated.
- The Senior Community Service Employment Program, which offers job training to low-income job seekers over 55 would be scrapped.
Singletary also quoted Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, as saying that despite "Trump's numerous promises during his presidential campaign to not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, he proposes to cut all three" by a combined $1.8 trillion.
Altman said that could mean the end of "Meals on Wheels, home heating assistance, and other programs on which seniors rely."
Congress often makes changes to the president's budget proposals, so it's unclear what would stick, especially because of its recently passed two-year spending plan.
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