March was a busy month for budget and appropriations activity. Congress sought to complete work on FY 2024 appropriations with final spending bills. The administration released its FY 2025 budget request before the FY 2024 process was completed (flagging policy proposals and priorities, but ensuring the document lacked an accurate comparison between proposed funding and current funding). Advocacy efforts are now fully underway to ensure the largest possible increases for the full spectrum of medical research and key programs during the FY 2025 process.
The administration’s FY 2025 budget request to Congress calls for:
- $3.86 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- $16.64 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
- $8.93 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Indian Health Services (IHS).
- $11.51 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- $49.79 billion in discretionary budget authority for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and $50.1 billion in total funding. Most of the proposed additional funding is dedicated to the National Cancer Institute and the Office of the Director with modest increases for most Institutes and Centers.
- $8.16 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
- $387 million in discretionary budget authority for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The final FY 2024 appropriations bills provide:
- $8.88 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration, a reduction of $577.19 million from FY 2023.
- $9.22 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of $4.5 million over FY 2023.
- $46.76 billion in discretionary funding for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $300 million over FY 2023 (there is also a scheduled reduction in mandatory funding for NIH of $378 million).
- $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, level-funded from FY 2023.
- $7.45 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration a reduction of $69.69 million from FY 2023.
- $369 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a reduction of $4.5 million from FY 2023.
CTSA Funding
For carrying out section 301 and title IV of the PHS Act with respect to translational sciences, $928,323,000: Provided, That $75,000,000 shall be available to implement section 480 of the PHS Act, relating to the Cures Acceleration Network: Provided further, That at least $629,560,000 (level-funding) is provided to the Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards program.
CTSA Committee Instructions
Clinical and Translational Science Awards [CTSA] Program.— The Committee provides $629,560,000 for the CTSA program. The Committee once again emphasizes that allocated resources shall be used to provide additional support to CTSA hubs and further enhance ongoing activities. The Committee maintains its strong support for the CTSA program and reaffirms previous language preserving the size, scope, and historic mission of the CTSA program, including the direction that no competitively funded hub shall receive less than 95 percent of the resources that were provided prior to fiscal year 2022. The CTSA program has helped modernize the Nation’s approach to effective and efficient medical research and will continue to be fully supported to facilitate further scientific progress through this critical infrastructure. Finally, the CTSA program is encouraged to catalyze emerging opportunities in AI, big data, and other areas, while maintaining the commitment to critical activities, such as training the next generation of cutting-edge physician scientists.
By: Dane Christiansen, Washington Representative