Balanced Budget Act of 1997

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 105–33 (text) (PDF), 111 Stat. 251, enacted August 5, 1997) was an omnibus legislative package enacted by the United States Congress, using the budget reconciliation process, and designed to balance the federal budget by 2002. This act was enacted during Bill Clinton's second term as president.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the act was to result in $160 billion in spending reductions between 1998 and 2002. After taking into account an increase in spending on Welfare and Children's Healthcare, the savings totaled $127 billion. Medicare cuts were responsible for $112 billion, and hospital inpatient and outpatient payments covered $44 billion. In order to reduce Medicare spending, the act reduced payments to health service providers. However, some of those changes to payments were reversed by subsequent legislation in 1999 and 2000.