Obama’s budget also called for some changes in Medicare benefits. Although it stopped far short of the massive overhaul congressional Republicans have proposed, some of its proposals have proven unpopular on the left.
Liberals are especially unhappy about Obama’s call to charge a single premium for hospital benefits and doctors’ visits.
The CBO also said Friday that doesn’t expect Medicare to cost taxpayers as much as Obama’s budget predicted. The White House’s estimates for the next decade of Medicare spending were $97 billion higher than the CBO’s.
The White House budget office expects the per-person cost of Medicare benefits to grow rapidly, while the CBO expects slow cost growth to continue.