Policy Corner: July 29, 2022
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Senate Committee Recommends Additional TBI Funds for FY 2023
On July 28, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released the Chairman’s mark for the twelve Senate appropriations bills funding federal government. Included in the spending bill for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is $3 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct the National Concussion Surveillance System. The House Appropriations Committee recommended $4 million for the program. The 2018 Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program Reauthorization Act authorized $5 million to establish the surveillance system, which is the most funding that has been recommended by the Senate and House Appropriation Committees. The Senate Appropriations Committee also recommended $13 million for the Administration for Community Living (ACL) TBI program, an increase of $1.179 million for State grants. The House Appropriations Committee recommended $1.297 million in additional funding for the ACL TBI State Partnership Program.
The package that was released today also provided for an $80 million increase to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the BRAIN Initiative. The bill also more than doubles the total funding for firearm injury and mortality prevention research conducted by NIH and CDC to $60 million to support research to identify the most effective ways to prevent firearm related injuries and deaths, and to broaden firearm injury data collection.
House Republicans Release Report on Disability Policies in the 21st Century
House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has shared with the report, “Disability Policies in the 21st Century: Building Opportunities for Work and Inclusion,” and its accompanying requests for information, produced by House Energy and Commerce Republicans. The report highlights the challenges and limitations that the Ranking Member sees that prevent people with disabilities from seeking employment and otherwise living to the fullest of their given potential, and she is seeking feedback on opportunities to address these issues in the coming months and years. Feedback on the requests for information is due no later than September 26. Any questions can be directed to EC.Feedback@mail.house.gov.
Senate Releases Reconciliation Proposal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) released the proposed “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” Budget Reconciliation legislation yesterday and plans to hold a vote in the Senate next week. The proposal includes provisions for prescription drug pricing reforms by empowering Medicare to begin negotiating directly for the price of prescription drugs in 2023. The new negotiation policy is to ensure that patients with Medicare get the best deal possible on high-priced drugs and pay cost-sharing for those drugs based on the Medicare negotiated price.