In This Issue:

Leading the News; Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); Other HHS and Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; Other Health Care News; and Hearings and Mark-Ups Scheduled.

- Excerpt from Leading the News:

On April 10th President Obama released his proposed budget for the 2014 Fiscal Year. The budget includes $370 billion in Medicare savings and provides $800 million for the implementation of insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Also proposed are $19 billion in Medicaid savings and over $14 billion in pharmaceutical savings by 2023. About $80 billion in discretionary funds are allocated to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2014, an increase of $3.9 billion from last year. Overall, proposals achieve an estimated $400 billion in total health savings from 2014-2023.