Obama unveils $76.4 billion Health and Human Services budget

President Obama on Monday unveiled a budget blueprint for 2013 that sets aside $76.4 billion — $300 million more than last year — for Health and Human Services Department but remains silent on how to pay for the government's biggest healthcare expense.

The proposal calls for a "permanent, fiscally responsible" fix to the Medicare physician payment formula, which calls for deep cuts to doctors' pay rates that Congress has consistently overridden in past years. Last year the president's budget set aside $62 billion in offsets for a two-year "doc fix," but this year's proposal didn't volunteer any pay-fors.

"The Administration is committed to working with the Congress to fix the [Sustainable Growth Rate formula], providing predictable Medicare physician payments that incentivize quality and efficiency in a fiscally responsible way," the budget summary states. "Failing to do so masks the long-run deficit."

• Cut Medicare and Medicaid spending by $364 billion over 10 years;

• Retain funding for the healthcare reform law, including money for states to create health insurance exchanges, while slashing its Prevention and Public Health Fund by $4 billion over 10 years;

• Boost funding for the Food and Drug Administration by $654 million, including $10 million to improve the safety of food and medical product imports from China and other countries;

• Call for new user fees to support food safety and generic drugs;

• Invest $3.1 billion to support the creation of 25 new health centers nationwide;

• Fund 2,800 new primary care providers; 

• Increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment by $172 million; and 

• Keep funding for the National Institutes of Health at $31.7 million.

The NIH funding prompted immediate criticism from Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley.

"We strongly believe a frozen budget for the National Institutes of Health will flat line medical breakthroughs in the coming years and stifle the business and job creation that begins with research and development," Wooley said in a statement. "Researchers will leave the field, potential breakthroughs will be shelved and new business opportunities grounded in medical discovery will evaporate as research institutions struggle with leaner budgets."