Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Panel Approves An Increase In Funding For NIH
CQ: Senate Appropriators Back NIH, Pell Grant Boosts In Draft Bill
The Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday approved by voice vote a bipartisan draft spending bill that would increase funding for the National Institutes of Health by $2 billion and provide more funding to low-income students attending college. The fiscal 2018 bill contains $3 billion more than the fiscal 2017 bill, putting funding for the largest non-defense discretionary spending bill at $164.1 billion, according to a subcommittee summary. ... The bill would provide $36.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a $2 billion increase over its fiscal 2017 levels. That builds upon similar increases for each of the last two years. Alzheimer’s research would get the biggest boost at NIH, with a $414 million increase, resulting in $1.8 billion total for those programs. (Wilkins and Siddons, 9/6)
Kaiser Health News: Congress’ Tight Timetable Complicates Renewal Of Children’s Health Plan
A popular federal-state program that provides health coverage to millions of children in lower- and middle-class families is up for renewal Sept. 30. But in a deeply divided Congress facing such pressing concerns as extending the nation’s debt ceiling, finding money for the Hurricane Harvey cleanup and keeping the government open, some health advocates fear that the program for children could be in jeopardy or that conservative lawmakers will seek changes to limit the program’s reach. (Galewitz, 9/7)
