In early March, President Joe Biden released his annual budget request. Now its Congress’ turn to consider these recommendations and determine how much money should be spent, and on what, during the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2024.
As Congress begins this task, ASCP is working with numerous coalition partners to build support for programs of interest to pathology and laboratory medicine and the broader healthcare community.
For example, ASCP partnered with 100 members of the Friends of U.S. Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) coalition to urge Congress to provide at least $10.5 billion for the Agency’s programs. In the March 23 letter, the coalition stated that adequately funding HRSA is critical to supporting its mission of addressing the supply, distribution, and diversity of the healthcare workforce and other programs related to patient care.
Similarly, as a member of the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition, ASCP partnered with other organizations to ask Congress to provide at least $1.51 billion for HRSA’s Title VII and Title VIII health professions workforce development programs. These initiatives, though underfunded, have helped shape the U.S. healthcare workforce, particularly in rural and other underserved areas. While congressional funding for these programs has not increased for several years, ASCP remains hopeful that, given historic healthcare personnel shortages, Congress may increase funding for these critical programs for next year.
ASCP also joined with 140 other members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coalition in a letter urging Congress to provide $11.6 billion or more for its programs. The coalition wrote that CDC serves as the “command center for the nation’s public health defense system against emerging and reemerging infectious diseases as well as man-made and natural disasters. From playing a leading role in aiding in the surveillance, detection and mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and globally, to monitoring and investigating the mpox outbreak and other disease outbreaks in the U.S. and internationally…CDC is the nation’s – and a global – expert resource and response center, coordinating communications and action and serving as the laboratory reference center.”
Another group that ASCP partners with is the Gun Violence Prevention Research Coalition. The Society has partnered with more than 200 organizations to seek $35 million for CDC, $25 million for the National Institutes of Health, and $1 million for the National Institute of Justice to conduct public health research into firearm morbidity and mortality prevention. The request is designed to ensure that federally funded research can fully explore ways in which gun violence can be reduced.
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