The Senate Appropriations Committee, in a July 31 markup, amended and voted 26-3 to advance its fiscal year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (L-HHS) spending bill. AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, issued a statement commending the committee for its bipartisan work and for rejecting the cuts proposed in the President’s FY 2026 budget request [refer to Washington Highlights, June 6].
The committee bill would provide $47.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) base budget, which would represent $400 million in new discretionary spending for the agency over the comparable FY 2025 funding level. The bill would maintain funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The bill text (PDF) and accompanying report (PDF) included provisions and language requiring the administration to meet certain conditions for any NIH restructuring and multiyear grant funding and prohibits changes to facilities and administrative (F&A) cost structure, noting the efforts of the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs [refer to Washington Highlights, July 18]. The bill would maintain the NIH salary cap at Executive Level II of the federal pay scale.
The bill would largely maintain funding for public health and health workforce programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would receive nearly $9.1 billion in funding, a $70 million decrease below the FY 2025 enacted level. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality would receive $345.4 million in discretionary funding, a $23.6 million decrease. Health workforce programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration would receive $1.38 billion, a decrease of $21 million below FY 2025 enacted level.
House appropriators have yet to consider their version of the spending bill.