AACOM monitors and advocates on federal issues that address or may impact osteopathic medical education. Select from the topic links below to learn about these issues, related AACOM activity and additional resources.
Economic Stimulus (ARRA) FY'10 Budget Request FY'10 Appropriations Small Business Innovation Research Reauthorization
Economic Stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009)
- The Secretary of HHS announced on 07/28/09 the availability of $200 million in ARRA funds supporting grants, loans, loan repayment, and scholarships to expand the training of health care professionals. The funds are expected to train approximately 8,000 students and credentialed health professionals by the end of FY 2010. The funds are part of the $500 million allotted to HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to address workforce shortages under ARRA. The $200 million will be directed to the following program areas: (1) $80.2 million for scholarships, loans, and loan repayment awards to students, health professionals, and faculty (of those funds, $39 million will be targeted to nurses and nurse faculty, $40 million to disadvantaged students in a wide range of health professions, and $1.2 million to health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds); (2) $50 million in grants to health professions training programs (funds will be used to purchase equipment needed to expand programs and improve the quality of training); (3) $47.6 million to support primary care training programs (funds will support the training of residents, medical students, physician assistants, dentists and individuals, many of whom will practice in underserved areas); (4) $10.5 million to strengthen the public health workforce (funds will support public health traineeships and increase the number of individuals trained through preventive medicine and dental public health residencies); (5) $10.2 million to increase the diversity of the health professions workforce; and (6) $1.5 million to support the efforts of state professional licensing boards in reducing barrier to telemedicine. HRSA is using a competitive process to award all funds. Some awards will be made over the next several months. In addition, funding opportunities for some programs will be announced over the next several months, giving applicants adequate time to prepare materials.
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- On 06/29/09, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (FCCCER) released recommendations for how the HHS Office of the Secretary will spend $400 million in funds for CER. The FCCCER report, mandated by ARRA, is designed to help the HHS Secretary and lawmakers improve the quality of care for patients and provide patients and doctors the best information possible to make decisions about health care. Congress charged the FCCCER with the task of identifying key areas of CER where funding could make the greatest impact to improve health outcomes for our nation. The report includes a definition of CER, criteria for determining which research projects should be a priority, and a strategic framework to identify gaps and future priorities. The report also catalogues current federal activities on CER, which had not been previously inventoried, and is available at: www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer.
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- On 06/05/09, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of nearly $200 million from ARRA to support student loan repayments for primary care medical, dental, and mental health clinicians who want to work at National Health Service Corps (NHSC) sites. The new funds are expected to double the number of NHSC clinicians and result in 3,300 awards to clinicians serving in health centers, rural health clinics, and other health care facilities that care for uninsured and underserved people. Fully trained health professionals who are dedicated to working with the underserved and have qualifying educational loans are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. In addition to $50,000 for loan repayment, each clinician receives a competitive salary and a chance to have a significant impact on a community. In exchange for the loan repayments, clinicians serve for two years with the NHSC. Primary care practitioners interested in applying for loan repayments should visit: http://nhsc.hrsa.gov. To see a list of opportunities available by state, go to: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/nhsc/vacancies.html.
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- Designed to put Americans back to work quickly and revive a moribund economy that has been non-responsive to other stimuli and incentives, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), signed on 02/17/09, by President Obama, included: Training for Primary Care Physicians and Nurses – $500 million; Construction and Renovation of University Research Facilities – $1.3 billion; National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Funding – $8.2 billion; Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Funding – $1.1 billion; Pell Grants – $15.64 billion; Higher Education Repair and Modernization Funds – approximately $48 billion for elementary, secondary, and higher education, but no specific breakout for higher education; Higher Education Assistance to Expand Health Information Technology Educational Programs – no specific amount designated for competitive grants, with osteopathic medical schools specifically eligible.
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| Updated: 8/5/2009 |
FY 2010 Administration's Budget Request
- Among the highlights in the President’s budget requests are the inclusion of funding for Title VII Health Professions programs. This is the first presidential budget since the Carter Administration to include Title VII funding in the request. The budget also includes increases for the National Health Service Corps. The National Institutes of Health receives a small (1.4 %) increase and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is level funded.
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- The President released the broad parameters of his FY 2010 budget on 02/26/09 and the detailed version on 05/07/09.
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| Updated: 8/5/2009 |
FY 2010 Appropriations
- The House and Senate have passed and the President has signed into law a continuing resolution (CR) for FY 2010 that extends funding for key programs at FY 2009 levels through October 31, 2009. House and Senate subcommittee staffs are working behind the scenes to create a final version of the FY 2010 bill. Current plans call for the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill to be combined with at least one other bill and brought to the House and Senate floors prior to the expiration of the CR. While exact funding levels are not yet known, based on the similarities in the bills, it is expected to be at the levels requested by the President.
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- The House of Representatives passed on 07/24/09 and the Senate Appropriations Committee released on 07/30/09 their respective versions of the FY 2010 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills. Both the House and the Senate have accepted the increases in key Title VII programs sought by the White House, indicating that – if the bill is enacted rather than a continuing resolution – the programs will be funded as follows: Training in Primary Care Medicine and General Dentistry – $56,425,000 (+$8,000,000); Centers of Excellence – $24,602,000 (+$4,000,000); Health Careers Opportunities Program – $22,133,000 (+$3,000,000). FY 2010 marks the first time since the Carter administration that any President – Republican or Democrat – has requested funding for all Title VII programs in his budget request to Congress.
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- AACOM signed the NHSC stakeholder letter of 06/17/09, to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to appropriate $235 million to the NHSC in FY 2010. This is $66 million more than the President’s budget request. The letter, which can be found at http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/library/workforce/corres/2009/061809.pdf, cited the importance of the program in addressing the current workforce shortage.
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| Updated: 10/14/2009 |
Small Business Innovation Research Reauthorization
- On 07/09/09, AACOM joined other higher education associations, patient advocacy organizations, scientific and professional societies, and research institutions in signing a letter supporting the House version of the reauthorization legislation because it does not include a provision contained in the Senate version that proposed a mandatory increase in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program allocation across agencies that will necessarily result in funding cuts for the peer-reviewed research conducted by other organizations. The letter, which can be found at http://opa.faseb.org/pdf/2009/July-December/SBIR_Community_B%207%2007%2009.pdf, expressed support for SBIR research and asked that Congress work with the Obama administration to increase support for all types of research. AACOM also signed a letter, dated 06/23/09, to the Senate, opposing the increase in SBIR allocation approved by a Senate committee: http://opa.faseb.org/pdf/2009/SBIR_community_final.6.24.09.pdf
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| Posted: 8/5/2009 |
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