Government Affairs Home > Washington Highlights > March 22, 2002

House Approves Budget Plan Debate Moves to Senate Panel

March 22, 2002 - The House March 20 passed its FY 2003 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 353) by a largely party line vote of 221 to 209.

The Senate Budget Committee approved its version of the budget on March 21. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) proposed a $2.171 trillion plan that calls for $768 billion in discretionary spending in FY 2003; $9 billion more than the House plan and $58.8 billion (8.3 percent) more than current year spending. Defense spending under the Chairman's plan is $392.7 billion, the same as the House and 13 percent over FY 2002. Non-defense discretionary spending would get a bigger boost under the Chairman's proposal, to $386 billion, a 6.7 percent increase over FY 2002 and nearly $20 billion more than the House proposal.

For discretionary health spending under budget function 550, the Chairman's proposal calls for $50.9 billion, an increase of $5.1 billion (11.1 percent) over FY 2002 and nearly $2.5 billion more than the House plan. Senate Budget Committee documents note that the budget matches the President's request for a $3.7 billion increase for NIH to complete the 5-year doubling. The Chairman's mark also increases the President's request for HRSA by $868 million, which "will fully restore the President's cuts to such programs as Rural Health, the Community Access Program, the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening program, Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education, and Health Professions." The Chairman's mark also provides $534 million than the President's budget for CDC, which "will fully restore the President's cuts in programs including Chronic Disease Prevention, Occupational Safety and Health, Infectious Disease Control, and Public Health Improvement."

For Medicare, the Chairman's mark proposes a reserve fund totaling $500 billion over the next ten years to strengthen the Medicare program by providing a prescription drug benefit and ensuring "beneficiary access to covered health care services and providers." The House budget includes a $350 billion fund for Medicare modernization and prescription drugs. An additional reserve fund of $95 million is included in the Senator Conrad's mark under the health function to expand health insurance coverage for the uninsured.

During deliberations on the budget March 21, the Senate Committee adopted by voice vote an amendment by Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Tim Johnson (D-N.D.) that provides a "Sense of the Senate" that the Congress should "Provide sufficient resources to ensure beneficiary access to high-quality health services provided by home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, physicians, and hospitals, including rural, teaching, community, and safety net hospitals that serve communities across the nation." The amendment's findings specifically note the inadequate reimbursements and severe capacity strains on teaching hospitals. The House budget resolution includes general report language noting the Committee's awareness that "funding for indirect medical education (IME) payments to the Nation's teaching hospitals plays an important role in maintaining high quality medical care for Medicare beneficiaries."

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