Summary of the 1997 Balanced Budget
Reconciliation
Act
Draft analysis prepared by the American Public
Welfare Association (APWA) (now APHSA)
The budget reconciliation act has been approved by the House and
Senate and sent to the president for signature. The attached memorandum
summarizes key Medicaid, health, and welfare-related provisions
of the act. Highlights include:
- Repeal of the Boren amendment
- Creation of a new $24 billion child health initiative
- Repeal of requirements that states pay Federally Qualified
Health Centers (FQHCs) and Regional Health Centers (RHCs) on a
cost basis.
- Elimination of waivers to implement mandatory managed care
- State option to continue statewide 1115 Medicaid waivers for
an additional three-year period
- No language to address Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) application
to welfare-to-work activities
- Transfer of up to 10 percent of Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) funds to Title XX without a transfer into child
care
- New $3 billion welfare-to-work grant program for long-term
clients
- New restrictions on the number of clients who can participate
in vocational education-only 30 percent of those clients counted
as working can be in vocational education. Teens are excluded
in that 30 percent for FYs 98 and 99
- New penalty for failure to reduce assistance for TANF recipients
who refuse to work
- Restoration of SSI benefits to noncitizens who were receiving
assistance as of Aug. 22, 1996 and for those who were residing
in the United States as of Aug. 22, 1996 and subsequently become
disabled
- Increased funding for the food stamp employment and training
program and targeting of 80 percent of old and new funds to Able-Bodied
Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD)
- New IV-E “look back” date of July 16, 1996
- Dozens of changes in the welfare technical corrections bill
To learn more about what is in the 1997 Balanced Budget
Reconciliation Act, select from the sections below.
