The AAMC and 85 other organizations joined a Dec. 2023 letter to congressional leadership urging them to provide the highest possible fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding level for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), finish the FY 2024 appropriations process, and avoid additional continuing resolutions and sequestration cuts for the nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs. The letter also noted the years of underfunding for many HRSA programs and reinforced the need to invest in these programs to better address preventative and primary health care gaps and support the health workforce.
The Senate FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS-Ed) bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 27, 2023 [refer to Washington Highlights, July 28, 2023], and avoids many of the cuts to NDD programs and policy riders proposed in the House FY 2024 LHHS-Ed spending bill [H.R. 5894, refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 17, 2023]. In contrast, the House bill eliminates funding for the HRSA Title VII and VIII diversity programs and includes policy provisions that would prohibit, limit, or restrict a wide variety of actions related to reproductive health; gender-affirming care; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Further consideration of the House’s FY 2024 LHHS-Ed spending bill was postponed after the House adopted amendments on the bill [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 17, 2023]. FY 2023 funding for the LHHS-Ed and eight other spending bills have been extended through Feb. 2 [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 17, 2023].