The House and Senate Appropriations committees have released the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which would fund all remaining federal agencies through the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The bipartisan legislation features six appropriations bills, including the one funding the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
The Labor-HHS-Education bill would provide $117 billion for HHA in FY 2024, which is about a 1% increase over the previous fiscal year, according to the American Hospital Association. The legislation includes:
- $300 million more for the National Institutes of Health, including a $10 million increase for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
- $4.5 million more for the CDC.
- $19 million more for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- $54 million more for the Health Resources and Services Administration.
- $14 million more for healthcare workforce training, including a $3 million bump for the National Health Service Corps, a $5 million increase for nursing programs and $5 million more for Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education.
- Level funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program.
- $12 million more for rural health programs.
- $4 million for a new pilot initiative to help stabilize rural hospitals.
Site-neutral payments and hospital price transparency provisions are not included in the new legislation, which would also rescind $4.3 billion in COVID-19 funding from the American Rescue Plan Act that was never obligated, according to the AHA.
The House may vote on the bill March 22, with the Senate expected to vote over the weekend.
Click here to read the 1,012-page bill.