CBO Posts Estimates on Health Centers Renewal Act, NIH Reauthorization; Study Examines Access to Care for Children Who Lose Public Health Coverage

• "Health Centers Renewal Act of 2006 (S 3771)," Congressional Budget Office: The bill would amend section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide grants to community health centers that provide affordable health care to low-income and underserved patients. The bill would renew funding that expires this year by authorizing $2 billion per year during fiscal years 2007 and 2008. According to the CBO cost estimate, the bill will cost $1 billion in 2007 and $3.9 billion during fiscal year 2007 through FY 2011 (CBO, "Health Centers Renewal Act of 2006," 9/22).

• "National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006," CBO: The bill would reauthorize funding to NIH of $29.7 billion for FY 2007, $31.2 billion for FY 2008 and $32.8 billion for FY 2009. According to the CBO estimate, the implementation of the legislation will cost $8.6 billion in FY 2007 and $90 billion during FY 2007 through FY 2011. The bill also would require the HHS secretary to create a board to review the organizational structure of NIH and recommend changes. In addition, the measure would create a "common fund" in NIH for research involving more than one NIH center, and it would require the NIH director to report biennially on the state of biomedical research and all NIH-supported activities to Congress and establish an electronic database of research activities and grants (CBO, "National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006," 9/25).

• "What Happens to Children Who Lose Public Health Insurance Coverage?" Medical Care Research and Review: For the study, Janet Mitchell, Susan Haber and Sonja Hoover, all of RTI International, surveyed the parents of children who had disenrolled from Oregon's SCHIP or Family Health Insurance Assistance Program, which have identical eligibility requirements, to determine the access such children have to health care. The study finds that 53% of children leaving FHIAP and 33% of children leaving SCHIP had private insurance. According to the authors, many families could not afford private insurance after losing eligibility for the programs (Mitchell et al., Medical Care Research and Review, October 2006).