The Biden Administration submitted on April 9, 2021 an overview of the President’s request for fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding. This preliminary budget indicates proposed top-line funding for departments and agencies, including a proposed $769 billion in nondefense discretionary spending, which would represent a 16% increase over FY 2021. Later this spring, a more detailed budget request is expected to be released. Overall, the discretionary budget would restore non-defense discretionary funding to 3.3% of GDP, roughly equal to the historical average over the last 30 years, while providing robust funding for national defense and other instruments of national power, including diplomacy, development, and economic statecraft that enhance the effectiveness of national defense spending and promote national security.
Over the years, many budget proposals submitted to Congress by each President often are pronounced dead on arrival. Members of both chambers usually have their own favorite ideas regarding which priorities should be funded. Major differences also characterize what Democrats and Republicans hope to be achieved through spending. Some proposed highlights for legislators to begin considering for FY 2022, which begins on October 1 of this year are as follows.
The NIH would receive $51 billion, including $6.5 billion to establish a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) with an intended focus on cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The CDC would be awarded $8.7 billion, which represents the largest budget authority increase in approximately 20 years.
The Department of Education would obtain $102.8 billion, a 41% increase over the 2021 enacted level.
April 8, 2021 marked the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act (H.R. 2418). The bill was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means. The purpose of this legislation is to alleviate the burden of student loan debt resulting from medical/professional health care training for frontline health workers who have made significant contributions to the ongoing health response against COVID-19.
Since the March 2021 issue of this newsletter was distributed, ASAHP has joined several other organizations in issuing statements that: (1) oppose efforts currently being pursued in several states to suppress voting by qualified voters, (2) urge Congress to provide $1.51 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing workforce development programs for FY 2022, and (3) request Congress to double the maximum Pell Grant and index the grant to inflation to ensure its value does not diminish over time.
More April 2021 TRENDS Articles
THE HEALTH WORKFORCE: AN IMPLICIT ASSUMPTION
Discusses some reasons why placing a greater focus on the individuals who provide health care services is warranted. Read More
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED BUDGET
Lists some spending highlights, along with ASAHP activities in government relations. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Looks at the importance of initiatives to improve health care quality and the implications of developing a public option for health insurance. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Refers to the problem of sexual harassment in educational institutions, along with citing the value of national data gathering by federal agencies. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Childhood Disability In The United States, 2019
U.S. Births: Final Data For 2019
Electronic Skin From Flexibility To A Sense Of Touch
Genome-Wide Programmable Transcriptional Memory By CRISPR-Based Epigenome Editing Read More
OBTAINABLE RESOURCES
Applying Systems Thinking To Regenerative Medicine
Shared Equity Leadership: Making Equity Everyone’s Work
Black And White Patients In Hospitals With Worse Safety Conditions Read More
OUTBREAKS OF “AGEISM” IN THREE NATIONS REGARDING COVID-19
Indicates eruptions that emerged over the social and economic costs of protecting older adults from this disease. Read More
PREVALENCE OF MEDIA SOCIAL ADDICTION
Pertains to how the problematic use of these forms of communication technology run the risk of impairing users’ psychosocial functioning and well-being. Read More