AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, issued the following statement regarding the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) bill advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee:
“While the AAMC appreciates the House committee’s work to largely preserve crucial medical research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we have strong concerns about the bill’s proposed cuts to other health priorities and restrictions that would jeopardize the health of all Americans.
Specifically, we urge lawmakers to reverse the untenable cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proposed elimination of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the proposed elimination of three health workforce diversity mentorship and pathway programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration: the Centers of Excellence, the Health Careers Opportunity Program, and the Nursing Workforce Diversity Program. We recognize the challenge that appropriators faced in drafting a spending bill under the impractical discretionary spending cap, but the solution should not be to undermine the nation’s health security. Congress must increase the discretionary spending caps to ensure the nation can resume robust above-inflation investment in NIH and full funding for the wide array of public health and scientific priorities.
We also note that the bill’s proposed structural and policy changes to the NIH would preempt efforts across Congress to collect stakeholder input on opportunities to strengthen medical research and prevent unintended consequences. In particular, the bill’s proposed prohibitions on certain types of research and caps for reimbursement of facilities and administrative expenses would arbitrarily limit progress toward new cures, treatments, diagnostics, and preventive interventions for patients with cancer, Alzheimer’s, and countless other conditions.
Moreover, if passed, the legislation’s problematic riders would interfere in the patient-clinician relationship, undermine public health, limit the education of future health care providers, and harm efforts to strengthen workforce diversity and health equity.
The AAMC urges Congress to reject these funding cuts and harmful policy provisions, and instead craft a bipartisan spending bill that ensures that the country is investing in programs and agencies that are critical to improving the health of patients, families, and communities nationwide.”