November 2, 2001

Congress, White House Struggle to Determine Cost of Anti-Bioterrorism Effort

Various Congressional leaders and the Administration are still working to develop a spending plan to respond to the threat of bioterrorism. In FY 2001, Congress appropriated $290 million for the Department of Health and Human Services for anti-bioterrorism activities.

In its FY 2002 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, the House appropriated a total of $393.3 million for bioterrorism-related activities within HHS. A total of $300.6 million is allotted for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund: $231.9 million for the CDC and $68.7 million for the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP). Part of this funding is also to be used to expand the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. The remaining $92.7 million is designated for research at NIH.

The Senate version of the Labor-HHS bill bill provides $338 million to HHS for bioterrorism, including $181.9 million in the CDC budget for preparation, infrastructure and the public health response and $68.7 million for the OEP.

As part of the $20 billion FY 2002 emergency supplemental package submitted to Congress Oct. 17, President Bush proposed $1.5 billion for the HHS Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, to be allocated as follows:

• $643.6 million to acquire medicines, supplies, and equipment for the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile to treat an additional 10 million persons exposed to anthrax and other bacterial infections, as well as providing an enhanced ability to treat victims of chemical attacks;
• 509 million would be used to accelerate production of the smallpox vaccine;
• $34.6 million to expedite FDA's work on bioterrorism vaccines, drug therapies, diagnostic tests, and consultations with other agencies and industry;
• $175 million for state and local efforts related to bioterrorism readiness. This includes:
  
  
  • $50 million to support increased capacity at the nation's hospitals and other facilities in the event of any incident that could potentially lead to mass casualties;
  • $50 million to bolster the Metropolitan Medical Response System, consisting of federally supported local preparedness efforts in 122 cities, to respond to bioterrorism, especially the public health aspects;
    
  • $10 million to support other local planning efforts;
    
  • $40 million will support early detection surveillance to identify potential bioterrorism agents;
    
  • $15 million will support increased capacity in up to an additional 45 state and local laboratories (for a total of 78); and
  • $10 million will increase the capacity for CDC and state and local laboratories to assess exposure to 150 hazardous chemical agents through blood and urine tests;
    
    
• $88 million to expand HHS' capacity to respond to bioterrorism incidents, including $20 million for the CDC's Rapid Response and Advance Technology and specialty labs, which provide quick identification of suspected agents and technical assistance to state labs; and $20 million to support additional specialized expert epidemiology teams to send to states and cities to respond rapidly to public health risks, infectious diseases and other disaster-related needs, including Epidemic Intelligence Officers specifically assigned to all 50 states. Other resources will increase capacity in other HHS response programs; strengthen emergency communication for federal, state and local governments during crisis situations; and improve global surveillance of infectious diseases, focusing on potential terrorist agents; and
  
• $61.0 million to enhance the frequency and quality of imported food inspections, and modernize the import data system.

Discussions are underway in Congress to provide additional funds to the President's supplemental request. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) have been negotiating for several weeks on additional funding to support antibioterrorism activities. Senator Kennedy is seeking at least $3 billion in additional funds for FY 2002 but has not been able to reach agreement with Senator Frist or HHS Secretary Thompson.

Separately, Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.,) has proposed $3.1 billion in FY 2002 for preventing and responding to bioterrorism as part of a $20 billion emergency homeland security supplemental spending bill he hopes to attach to the economic stimulus package.

Information: Erica Froyd or Dave Moore, AAMC Office of Governmental Relations, 202-828-0525.