Federal legislation signed and passed on August 5, 1997, that changes sections of the Social Security Act. Its purpose is to reduce spending, balance the federal budget, and fight fraud and abuse. It introduced provisions and improvements to protect program integrity such as permanent exclusion for those convicted of three health care–related crimes on or after the date of enactment and mandated prospective payment systems for outpatient and home health services. Sometimes the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 is informally pronounced as “bubba.”