Washington Highlights: September
24, 2004
Senate Appropriations Panel Approves
VA-HUD Funding Bill
Contents
Prior Issues
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The Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 21 approved its version
of the FY 2005 VA-HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill.
The bill (S.
2825, S. Rpt.
108-353) includes increased funding for the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) medical care, flat funding for VA research and a small
increase for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The House Appropriations
Committee passed its version of the bill on July 22 [see Washington
Highlights, July 23].
Specifically, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a funding
level of $28.35 billion for the Veterans Health administration (VHA).
This is an increase of $1.74 billion over FY 2004, and $1.2 billion
higher than the President's budget proposal. The Committee designated
$1.2 billion of this total as "emergency spending" and therefore
not subject to the overall spending cap on the bill. The total also
includes $405.6 million for VA medical and prosthetics research,
the same level as FY 2004, and $20.8 higher than the President proposed.
The Committee urged VA to prioritize prosthetics research and asked
for a report from the VA on how they would do so by Dec. 31, 2004.
For the NSF, the Senate Committee allocated $5.75 billion, an
increase of $167 million (3.0 percent) over FY 2004 and the same
level as proposed by the President. This total includes $4.40 billion
for NSF Research, $151 million (3.6 percent) more than FY 2004,
but $50 million less than the President proposed.
Information:
Jonathan Fishburn, Director, Research, Education and Veterans' Legislative Affairs
AAMC Office of Governmental Relations
jfishburn@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Sullivan Commission Report Addresses Health Professions
Diversity
The Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce,
chaired by and named for former Secretary of Health and Human Services
Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., released a report
Sept. 20 with recommendations on how to achieve diversity in the
health professions. The report is the result of field hearings held
across the country, which focused on the scarcity of minorities
in the health professions.
The report notes that to increase minority representation in the
healthcare workforce, health professions schools must improve the
diversity of their students and faculty. It recommends health professions
schools partner with communities to promote health careers for disadvantaged
and minority students; reduce dependence on standardized tests in
the admissions process; and ensure mission statements include diversity
as a core value. The report also recommended that funding should
be increased for the National Health Service Corps and the diversity
programs within Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service
Act, and for the NIH National Center for Minority Health and Health
Disparities and the Health Disparities Loan Repayment Program.
The AAMC issued a press
release Sept. 20 praising the report and calling attention to
the need to bolster the pipeline with well-qualified, diverse students.
Information:
Erica Froyd, Director, Public Health and Research Legislative Affairs
AAMC Office of Governmental Relations
efroyd@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Legislation Extends Grant Program to Help Fund
States' High-Risk Health Insurance Pools
Expiring federal grants for states' high-risk health insurance
pools would be extended and increased under legislation passed by
voice vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)
Committee on Sept. 22. Without further legislative action, the grant
program will expire on Sept. 30.
Introduced by HELP Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Ranking
Member Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the "State High Risk Pool Funding
Extension Act of 2004" (S.
2283) reauthorizes the grant program that helps states establish
and maintain high-risk pools to cover individuals unable to obtain
affordable health insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions.
The bill re-authorizes the unspent portion of "seed money"
made available in FY 2003 (by the Trade Act of 2002) to help states
establish new high-risk pools. The unspent funds total approximately
$15 million and would be available through FY 2005. The Gregg-Baucus
bill also authorizes $75 million in grants per year in FYs 2005
- 2009 to help states with existing high-risk pools.
The legislation changes the formula for allocating grant funds
to state high-risk pools. Rather than allotting funds based solely
on the size of a state's uninsured population (as established in
the Trade Act), S. 2283 divides about 50 percent of the available
funding equally among qualifying states. Approximately 25 percent
of the funding would be based on risk pool enrollment, and the remaining
25 percent would reflect a state's proportion of uninsured people.
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Affairs Manager
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
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