WASHINGTON —  President Bush’s 2009 budget will virtually freeze most domestic programs and seek nearly $200 billion in savings from federal health care programs, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The Bush budget also will likely exceed $3 trillion, this official said.

Bush on Monday will present his proposed budget for the new fiscal year to Congress, where it’s unlikely to gain much traction in the midst of a presidential campaign. The president has promised a plan that would erase the budget deficit by 2012 if his policies are followed.

Bush will propose nearly $178 billion in savings from Medicare — a number that’s nearly triple what he proposed last year. Much of the savings would come from freezing reimbursement rates for most health care providers for three years. An additional $17 billion would come from the Medicaid program, the state-federal partnership that provides health coverage to the poor. The cuts would come over five years.

The official, whose spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget has not yet been released, said the budget for domestic programs would look like last year’s.

“It’s a very small increase,” he said. “Very small.”  an official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that domestic discretionary spending would increase by less than 1 percent under Bush’s proposal.

Lee ADDS: No real deal! Maybe that will stop some of the EXCESSIVE PORK!