House committee passes bill with increases for nursing research, maternal health

The House Appropriations Committee this week voted 33-25 to approve legislation providing $253.8 billion for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal year 2022, a 28% increase over the prior fiscal year. According to a committee summary, the bill would provide $119.8 billion for HHS, $22.9 billion more than the FY 2021 enacted level, but slightly below the president’s request. Specific increases over FY 2021 include: $6.5 billion more for the National Institutes of Health, including nearly $26 million more for the National Institute of Nursing Research and $330 million more for health disparities research; $671 million more for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, including $3.14 billion more for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; $2.7 billion more for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including $50 million more for public health workforce initiatives and $150 million more for social determinants of health; $1.6 billion more for the Health Resources and Services Administration; and $646 million more for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The legislation also includes $868.7 million for the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, $156 million more than the previous fiscal year. In addition, the committee matched the president’s request of $153 million for CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program; a portion of that funding will continue to go toward social determinants accelerator grants. The full House is expected to consider the bill later this month. (AHA News article, 7/15/21)