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Volume 12 Number 61 Lead Report: U.S. Budget By a 216-210 vote, the House March 29 approved its fiscal year 2008 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 99), which would provide a reserve fund containing $50 billion over five years for reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and establish reserve funds for Medicare changes and federal health care fraud and abuse prevention initiatives. The reserve funds would set aside an undisclosed amount of funding to address a projected Medicare reimbursement decrease for doctors and to make unspecified changes to the program's prescription drug benefit. Reserve funds are budget placeholders meant to give committees of jurisdiction an incentive to follow the largely advisory budget plan on spending priorities. The reserve funds would be available only if committees passed requested legislation with cost offsets. In approving the budget plan, the House first defeated several alternative measures, including a proposal put forth by Republicans that would have reduced Medicare spending $142 billion over five years, and cut Medicaid spending $97 billion over five years. The GOP substitute was defeated by a vote of 268-160. The House measure next must be reconciled with the Senate budget blueprint (S. Con. Res. 21), approved by that chamber March 23 (No. 57 HCDR 3/26/07).
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