Labor-HHS Appropriation FY 2009
 |
|
|
Related Resources
AAMC Documents
- October 29,
2008, letter on Economic Stimulus
- January
27, 2009, Thank You Letter
- February 11, 2009, letter
to Conferees
- February
13, 2009, statement by AAMC President and CEO Kirch
- March 4, 2009, letter
to HRSA Administrator Wakefield
|
|
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
On February 17, President Obama signed the "American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act" (H.R. 1, P.L. 111-5). The House approved
the conference agreement on the $787 billion economic recovery package
on February 13 by a 246-183 vote, with no Republicans supporting
the measure. The Senate approved the bill later the same day by
a 60-38 vote, with Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia
Snowe (Maine), and Arlen Specter (Pa.) voting in favor of the package.
House and Senate negotiators filed the conference agreement on H.R.
1 on February 12.
AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., praised the measure,
stating, "The federal funding included for research, medical
education, and patient care will help ensure that the nation's medical
schools and teaching hospitals will continue to be regional economic
engines. At the same time, this new support will strengthen the
missions of these institutions to advance medicine, educate the
next generation of doctors, and care for their local communities."
The conference agreement includes $311 billion in discretionary
funding, including the following programs of interest to academic
medicine.
National Institutes of Health: The conference agreement
provides $10.4 billion for NIH. Of this amount, $8.2 billion is
appropriated to the Office of the Director, with $7.4 billion designated
for transfer to the Institutes, Centers, and Common Fund in the
same proportion as the FY 2009 appropriation. The conference agreement
adopts the Senate guidance that, to the extent possible, the $800
million retained in the Office of the Director "shall be used
for purposes that can be completed within two years, with priority
placed on short-term grants that focus on specific scientific challenges,
new research that expands the scope of ongoing projects, and research
on public and international health priorities." The conferees
also included legislative language that excludes the NIH funds in
the recovery package from the set-aside requirements of the Small
Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer
programs.
The conference agreement also provides $1.3 billion for the National
Center for Research Resources (NCRR), with $1 billion for "competitive
awards for the construction and renovation of extramural research
facilities" and $300 million for "shared instrumentation
and other capital equipment." The conference agreement includes
a House proposal to waive non-Federal match requirements for extramural
facilities and a statement that the conferees "expect NCRR
will give priority to those applications that are expected to generate
demonstrable energy-saving or beneficial environmental effects."
In addition, the conference agreement also provides $500 million
for the Buildings and Facilities account to be used for construction
and renovation of NIH intramural buildings.
NIH has posted a number of documents relating to the ARRA funding,
including Requests for Applications and Notices on NIH Challenge
Grants in Health and Science Research (RC1); Competitive Revisions
and Administrative Supplements; Shared Instrumentation; and Facilities
Construction, Renovations, Repair and Improvements.
During Senate consideration of its version of H.R. 1 on February
3, the Senate adopted an amendment supported by Senator Specter,
Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tom
Harkin (D-Iowa), and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to
add $6.5 billion to the funding provided in the House version of
the bill, bringing the total funding for NIH to $10 billion. Senator
Specter reportedly insisted on the inclusion of the $10 billion
in the final conference agreement as a condition for his support
of the package.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: The conference
agreement provides $700 million to AHRQ for comparative effectiveness
research; of that funding, $400 million is to be transferred to
the NIH Institutes, Centers, and the Common Fund, to conduct or
support comparative effectiveness research. Additionally, $400 million
is provided to support comparative effectiveness research at the
discretion of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Health Professions: The conference agreement provides $500
million to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
for health professions workforce development through scholarships,
loan repayment, and grants to training programs for equipment. An
accompanying explanatory statement allocates $300 million of this
funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), with $75 million
to remain available through Sept. 30, 2011, for "extending
service contracts and the recapture and reallocation of funds in
the event that a participant fails to fulfill his or her term of
service." The conference agreement also designates 20 percent
of NHSC funds for field operations.
The remainder of the HRSA health professions funding is to be allocated
to "all the disciplines trained through the primary care medicine
and dentistry program, the public health and preventive medicine
program, the scholarship and loan repayment programs authorized
in Title VII (Health Professions) and Title VIII (Nurse Training)
of the PHS Act, and grants to training programs for equipment."
Additionally, funds may be used to coordinate cross-state telemedicine
activities. The AAMC sent a March 4 letter to new HRSA Administrator
Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, requesting that HRSA "prioritize
funding for those programs that were most affected by drastic funding
cuts in FY 2006," including the Title VII Primary Care Medicine
and Dentistry program, the Health Careers Opportunity Program, and
the Centers of Excellence, when implementing the Recovery Act funding.
Prevention and Wellness: The conference agreement creates
a new "Prevention and Wellness Fund" with $1.0 billion
to be transferred by the Secretary to agencies within the Department
of Health and Human Services. Within the fund, $300 million is to
be transferred for the immunization grant program at the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and $50 million is provided
to assist states in reducing healthcare-associated infections. The
remaining $650 million is designated for evidence-based prevention
and wellness strategies authorized by the Public Health Service
Act to address chronic disease rates.
National Science Foundation: The conference agreement provides
$2.5 billion for research and related activities at the NSF, including
$300 million for the major research instrumentation program and
$200 million for academic research facilities modernization.
Department of Energy's Office of Science: The conference
agreement provides $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
Contacts
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Matthew Shick, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
mshick@aamc.org
(202) 862-6116
Tannaz Rasouli, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
trasouli@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Abigail Schopick, Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
aschopick@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
|
