Entitlement programs are programs where Congress authorizes spending by determining particular eligibility criteria rather than a particular amount of spending.
Developed especially during the Great Society of the 1960s, these are benefits to which the recipient is entitled by right if certain criteria are met. Part of the "uncontrollable" part of the budget, most are in the welfare policy area. Their increases are said to be responsible for the increases in federal expenditures.
Programs like Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans' benefits are known as entitlement programs. Each person eligible for benefits receives them unless Congress changes the eligibility criteria. Funding levels are set by the number of eligible recipients, and not at the discretion of Congress. Entitlement payments represent the largest portion of the federal budget.
Benefits extended to individuals who meet legislatively established eligibility requirements. Any individual who meets the requirements is considered "entitled" to the benefit, regardless of the overall amount spent on providing the benefit to all eligible individuals.
Federal programs such as Medicaid or Medicare that guarantee certain benefits to individuals or entities who meet requirements set by law.
Source: NCURA Programs that dispense funds to any qualified person in accordance with set criteria--e.g. Medicare, veteran's benefits. Their significance for research is that once eligibility requirements are established, they cannot be controlled by the appropriation process. This open-ended characteristic may result in their becoming so large that discretionary funds must be cut, and that is always bad news for research funding.