White House acting budget director Shalanda Young said there’s time before 2025 for Biden to work with Congress “to continue reforming our tax code so that it asks the wealthy to pay their fair share, raises the right amount of revenue and protects the low- and middle-income families.”
Although Biden campaigned on lowering the enrollment age for Medicare and creating a public insurance option, his plan does not include a way to do that. Instead, the proposal only calls on Congress to take action this year to lower prescription drug costs and expand and improve health coverage.
The plan notes that the money saved from reducing the amount of money Medicare pays for prescription drugs could be used to pay for coverage expansion. But congressional Democrats are divided over how to address drug prices as well as how to spend the savings.
“We know there are proposals on the Hill being introduced, and we believe that it’s more productive to work collaboratively with Congress to develop and build consensus around specific policies that achieve his broad goals,” Young told reporters.
Biden angered anti-abortion activists and pleased abortion rights groups by something he did not include in his first budget request: a ban on federal funding of most abortions.
The real fight over the issue will be in Congress where Democrats may not be able to keep the ban, known as the Hyde amendment, from being added to spending bills as it has been for decades.
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