Health Affairs January 26, 2026
Since its release in May 2025, the President’s FY 2026 budget has received a lot of attention for its proposed changes to entitlement programs, especially Medicaid. However, it also proposes major changes in the federal discretionary budget for health care, which could have serious implications for behavioral health care; some changes are already being implemented.
In this Forefront article, we examine the implications of federal budget proposals and administrative actions affecting spending for substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment, an area which had in recent years received additional federal funding to tackle pressing problems such as the opioid epidemic. Recent actions by Congressional appropriations committees indicate that many of the President’s proposed changes will be rejected or modified, but...
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