Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent News Coverage Related To FY 2008 Budget

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Stroke;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 13 Apr 2007 - 19:00 PST

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CongressDaily on Tuesday published two articles on issues related to the fiscal year 2008 budget. Summaries appear below.

• CDC: The FY 2008 budget proposed by President Bush would not increase funds for the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at CDC, a move that could affect state heart disease and stroke prevention programs, CongressDaily reports. The proposal includes $22 million for the division, which provides block grants to states for such programs. CDC has received a total of $34 million in grant requests for such programs from 49 states and the District of Columbia, according to Nancy Watkins, chief of program services and development for the division. Watkins added that some of the 33 states that currently receive grants for such programs could lose the funds without an increase in funds for the division in FY 2008. The American Heart Association has requested a $20 million increase in funds for the division. Congressional staffers said that lawmakers have sought a $10 million to $20 million increase in funds for the division but "face considerable difficulties, including accusations that the requests are earmarks," CongressDaily reports (Johnson, CongressDaily, 4/11).
  
  
• Reserve funds: Democratic lawmakers "are using the budget process to express their longstanding legislative priorities," but "the numerous 'reserve funds' promise action on those items only if commensurate offsets are found under new pay/go rules, which will require politically difficult tax increases or entitlement spending cuts," CongressDaily reports. Some of the priorities include $50 billion over five years to expand SCHIP and $65 billion over five years to prevent scheduled reductions in Medicare physician reimbursements. Republican lawmakers, who have proposed similar reserve funds in the past, "argue the reserve funds will either not materialize or require tax increases to pay for them," CongressDaily reports. James Horney of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said, "It's absolutely the case that all of them probably aren't going to happen," adding that SCHIP funding is likely to pass this year with or without offsets (Cohn, CongressDaily, 4/11).
  

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