Advocacy & Practice Updates — Advocacy & Practice
President's 2027 Budget Request Seeks Lower Health Program Funding, Targets Medicare Fraud
Late last week, the Trump administration released its fiscal year 2027 budget request to Congress. While these annual documents do not have the force of law, they inform Congressional appropriators about expected funding needs and provide a sense of the administration’s policy priorities for the coming year.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) request, that includes its sub-agencies, CMS and FDA, focuses heavily on department-wide cost reduction through proposed organizational streamlining and AI-powered technology upgrades. Specifically, the administration is requesting funds to update CMS’ claims processing system and enhance FDA administrative processes with AI technologies.
The budget request also highlights CMS’ plans for stepped up program integrity efforts in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The administration touts the ability for cost-saving through efforts to combat waste, fraud, and abuse and again plans to use AI-assisted systems to increase enforcement.
Congress has not formally begun the annual appropriations process, but did not agree to the Administration’s similar request for spending reductions for FY 2026.
(Published 4.7.26)