Policy Corner: July 23, 2021

House Appropriations Committee Recommends Increased Funding for TBI

The House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related funding bill last week. In advance of floor consideration, the Committee released summaries of seven appropriations bills expected to be considered in the House next week. The Committee approved major increases in programs impacting individuals with brain injury and their families. The funding recommendations include increased funding for the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Act programs and research programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Appropriations Committee recommends:

Administration for Community Living (ACL)

• An increase of $4 million for the TBI program, $3.4 million more than the President’s budget request. The Committee recommends $15,321,000 total for the TBI program, which funds both the Protection & Advocacy and state grant programs, with the increased funding directed to sustain and expand existing programs and to award funding to additional states.
• An increase of $11.8 million for National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitative Research over the FY 2021 enacted levels, for a total of $124.8 million. The recommendation includes funds to increase annual grant funding to competitively funded Model Systems centers, and a $100,000 increase for the TBI Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center. The Committee also recommends $2 million to increase the number of federally funded Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems.
• Language was included with regard to the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR), urging the HHS Secretary to emphasize ICDR’s importance to the field of disability research and to continue to acknowledge its role in promoting interagency collaboration to carry out the Administration’s priorities including the executive order on advancing racial equity. The Committee also urges the ICDR to promote the work of the Federal Equitable Data Working Group to coordinate the collection of disability-specific data.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• An increase of $2 million for the CDC National Injury Center to address the national concussion surveillance system, particularly addressing concussions associated with children and youth. The TBI Program Reauthorization Act of 2018 included provisions for CDC to establish the national concussion surveillance system.
• The Committee encourages CDC to ensure disability data is included as a core demographic component across surveys and surveillance systems administered by the National Center for Health Statistics. The Committee encourages CDC to support and fund research focused on the community of people with disabilities as a whole.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Funding for initiatives established in the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114–255), including a total of $194,000,000 for the Cancer Moonshot Initiative; $541,000,000 for the ‘‘All of Us’’ precision medicine initiative; and $612,000,000 for the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
• An additional $285 million for a total of $2.8 billion for National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The Committee directs NIH to transfer $76 million from the NIH Innovation Account to NINDS to support the BRAIN Initiative. These funds were authorized in the 21st Century Cures Act. This collaborative effort is revolutionizing the understanding of how neural components and their dynamic interactions result in complex behaviors, cognition, and disease while accelerating the development of transformative tools to explore the brain in unprecedented ways, making information previously beyond reach accessible.

The Committee also recommended additional $7.11 million above the FY 2021 funding for a total of $14.22 million for the ACL respite care program. The program provides grants to eligible state organizations to improve the quality of, and access to, respite care for family caregivers.

BIAA Supports HCBS Funding

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) joined other organizations in a letter to House and Senate leadership supporting the $400 billion investment included in the Build Back Better agenda for access to Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and to support the direct care workforce. BIAA also signed a letter this week generated by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities to House and Senate sponsors of the Better Care Better Jobs Act (S.2210, H.R. 4231). Addressed to Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.) and Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), the letter underscores the need for funding for HCBS and the direct care workforce.

Senators Introduce Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Bill

A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) have recently introduced the Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act (S. 2344), a bill providing $1 billion in grants to states and other eligible entities to support innovative projects and programs focused on recruitment, retention, and training for direct care workers and family caregivers. This legislation is the Senate’s version of the recently introduced House bill focused on the same issues, he Direct CARE Opportunity Act (H.R. 2999), introduced by Rep. Bobbie Scott (D-Va.).

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action. Click here to read past issues of Policy Corner.