Last week (Sep. 28), the President signed into law the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education and Related Agencies spending bill. This is the first time in more than two decades that Congress passed the Labor-HHS-Education bill prior to the start of the next fiscal year, which began October 1. The bill, H.R. 6157, also includes the Department of Defense appropriations measure, and a continuing resolution to temporarily fund remaining government programs until all the appropriations bills can be signed into law. In order to avoid a partial government shutdown, Congress will have to pass the remaining appropriations bills before December 7.
H.R. 6157 includes:
- Level funding for geriatrics workforce training programs—and specifically $40.7 million for the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) funded under Title VII. While this is below the AGS-requested funding amount of $51 million, it’s still a very positive development in light of the President’s initial budget proposal for FY 2019, which zeroed-out funding for these programs altogether.
- Increased funding for aging-focused research initiatives within the National Institutes of Health. Specifically, of the $39.1 billion allocated to the National Institutes of Health, $3 billion will be provided to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which represents a $509 million increase over funding in FY 2018. Increased funding was also allocated for Alzheimer’s disease research and the BRAIN (or “Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies”) Initiative. Of note, appropriators explicitly stated their hope that “continue[d] investments in research…[would] save lives, lead to new drug and device development, reduce health care costs, and improve the lives of all Americans.”
- Funding of $2.17 billion for the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which is a $25 million increase above the FY 2018 enacted level. This includes funds for aging programs and other services for people with disabilities.
While AGS is overall pleased with appropriations for FY 2019, we were concerned to learn that HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced plans to use his transfer authority to reallocate up to $266 million in FY 2018 enacted appropriations to pay for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program. These reallocations will include:
- Taking $101,843 from the geriatrics programs under Title VII (and $15.8 million total from HRSA);
- Taking $87.2 million from NIH, including $6.0 million from the NIA;
- Taking $5.19 million from the ACL
It remains unclear whether there is anything we can do to reverse this decision, but we’re discussing the outlook and next steps with our consultants and other key stakeholders. Stay tuned for more!