STD Prevention Wins an increase of $5 million in Appropriations Committee Approved FY’22 LHHS Funding Bill

This week the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Funding bill that proposes new significant investments in jobs, education, childcare, research, public health infrastructure, and gender equality was approved on a 33-25 vote. The bill provides $253.8 billion – a 28 percent increase of $55.2 billion above FY’21.  The legislation,

• Creates and sustains good-paying American jobs through investments in job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection
• Grows opportunity with transformative investments in education, including record funding for high-poverty schools and students with disabilities, and strong increases for programs that expand access to post-secondary education
• Supports middle class and working families with increased funding for child care and development programs, Head Start, and preschool development grants
• Strengthens lifesaving biomedical research with increased funding for the National Institutes of Health, including funding to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
• Bolsters our public health infrastructure with more resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and for states and local governments to strengthen infrastructure and capacity
• Addresses our nation’s most urgent health crises, including maternal health, mental health, gun violence, and opioid abuse, while making strides to reduce persistent and unacceptable health disparities
• Advances equal treatment for women by increasing funding for the range of health services, including family planning, covered by Title X and repealing the discriminatory Hyde Amendment

In addition to providing a $5 million increase for STDs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the House bill prioritizes sexual health with a $16 million increase to the Division of Adolescent and School Health, and a $100 million increase to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative at CDC.

COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the fight against STDs by disrupting care, treatment, and contact tracing. Now more than ever, increasing resources for the prevention, care, and treatment of STDs is needed. NCSD encourages the U.S. Senate to follow the House’s lead and provide increased federal funding to STDs and other sexual health programs.

Other relevant proposals include:

• CDC Total DCHHSTP: $1.501 b (+$187.5 m)
  • HIV Prevention: $755.6 m (+$0.0 m)
  • DASH: $50.1 m (+$16.0 m)
  • Ending the Epidemic Plan: $275.0 m (+$100.0 m)
  • STD Prevention: $166.8 m (+$5.0 m) 

“Sexually Transmitted Infections.—The Committee includes an increase of $5,000,000 to address the high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The Committee recognizes that direct funding to State and local health departments is critical to address STIs and other infectious diseases… In addition, the Committee notes the investment of more than $1,000,000,000 from the American Rescue Plan (P.L. 117–2) to bolster support and enhance the disease intervention specialist workforce nationwide to respond to COVID–19 and other infectious diseases.” 

• • Hep Prevention: $44.5 m (+$5.0 m)
  • TB Elimination: $144.0 m (+$5.0 m)
  • Opioid Related Infectious Diseases: $69.5 m (+$56.5 m)

NCSD’s updated funding chart can be found here.

A summary of the bill can be found here. The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee’s commitment to transparency, information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

Reconciliation

House Speaker Pelosi praised the Senate’s latest $3.5 trillion budget deal and has announced that the proposal will include certain House priorities like closing the Medicaid gap, enhancing Medicare, extending the increased Affordable Care Act tax credits from the American Rescue Plan and transforming the care economy. The outline of Senate $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that is circulating on the Hill includes:

• Universal Pre-K for 3- and 4-year-old children; High quality and affordable Child Care; Community College, HBCUs and MSIs, and Pell Grants; Paid Family and Medical Leave; Nutrition Assistance; Affordable Housing
• Dental, Vision, and Hearing benefit to Medicare; Home and Community-Based Services expansion; Extend the Affordable Care Act Expansion from the ARP; Close the Medicaid “Coverage Gap” in the States that refused to expand; Reduced patient spending on prescription drugs.
• COVID-19 pandemic recovery assistance for workers and communities to reverse trends of economic inequality; Housing investments; Innovation and Research & Development Upgrades; Small Business Support; American Manufacturing and Supply Chains Funding; Investment in Workers and Communities; LPRs for Immigrants and Border Management; Pro-Worker Incentives and Penalties
• Health savings, including prescription drugs, and repeal of the Trump rebate rule