News From The Hill

Lawmakers reconvened in January for the 2^nd session of the 116^th Congress. In order to set the table for impeachment proceedings, all Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending bills were resolved at the end of last year along with critical healthcare policy items. The resolution of the FY 2020 appropriations process was the culmination of year-long advocacy efforts for the community and resulted in sustained ongoing investment in the full spectrum of medical research. Moreover, lawmakers went above and beyond to protect the Clinical and Translational Science Award program and reauthorize the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. With a budget deal in place and elections looming in November, Congress has already begun preliminary work on the FY 2021 appropriations process. 

Below, please find a summary of key funding and policy items from the FY 2020 appropriations process:   

• Reauthorization of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for 10 years, fully funded through health insurer fees and increased mandatory federal spending to compensate for the elimination of its Medicare funding stream.
• $41.7 billion for NIH, an increase of $2.6 billion above FY 2019.
  • $832.89 million for National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, an increase of $26.52 million over FY 2019.
    • $578.14 million in dedicated, line-item funding for the Clinical and Translational, an increase of $18.1 million over FY 2019.
    • $578,141,000 for Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) and encourages NCATS to fund, through the existing CTSA hubs, programs to address disparities and the significant burden of diseases and other conditions that disproportionately affect minority and special populations. Accelerating this capacity will reduce the burden of disease and promote health equity. Applying the CTSA model to address long-standing regional health disparities can provide innovative, multi-disciplinary approaches to reducing the burden of disease among vulnerable populations.
• $2.94 billion for the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, an increase of $64.44 million over FY 2019.
  • Institutional Development Award-The agreement provides $386,573,000 for the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program, an increase of $25,000,000.
• $335.81 million for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, an increase of $21.13 million over FY 2019.
  • Research Centers in Minority Institutions.-The agreement includes $75,000,000 (an increase of 11.9 million) for the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program to support critical infrastructure development and scientific discovery in historically minority graduate and health professional schools. The agreement also recognizes the importance of the RCMI Coordinating Center in ensuring that collectively, institutions can engage in multi-site collaborative research.