President Obama's April 10 budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 includes a 0.3 percent decrease in discretionary spending ($311 million) for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control account from the FY 2013 level ($312 million) funded through a continuing resolution passed prior to sequestration. The drop in HCFAC discretionary spending is even greater (49 percent) when compared against the President's FY 2013 budget proposal ($610 million), which included additional funding due to discretionary cap adjustments consistent with the Budget Control Act of 2011 and was never enacted.

However, the nearly 50 percent decrease is explained by the FY 2014 budget proposal's decision to repeal the discretionary cap adjustments and instead provide a dedicated, dependable source of mandatory funding for the HCFAC account in the future. Beyond FY 2014, base funding for the HCFAC account would shift from discretionary spending to mandatory spending. After FY 2014, no discretionary spending will be proposed for providing HCFAC base funding, the FY 2014 budget proposal said.