Health Policy Updates for the Week of March 11, 2019

The Headlines

Congress will be in recess next week and will reconvene on March 25. Stay tuned to our Twitter for updates on the President's budget proposal details and other federal updates. 

1. The President released his fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget proposal, with cuts to many domestic discretionary programs. Duke Health Government Relations is working to submit appropriations priorities for programs important to the health system.
2. Duke University Bass Connections students visited Capitol Hill to speak about the Pocket Colposcope cervical cancer screening tool.
3. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar testified at a series of hearings this week on the President’s budget request.
4. The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 was reintroduced in the House.

The Details

1. President’s Budget
President Trump released his $4.7 trillion budget proposal for FY 2020 on Monday. The proposal boosts defense and security but cuts domestic discretionary programs. Here are the impacts on a few of the programs of interest to Duke Health:

• 12% cut to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• $4.7 billion cut (12%) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• $800 million cut to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• $256 billion to consolidate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the new National Institute for Research in Safety and Quality
• $291 million for domestic HIV initiative
• $643 million increase to Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The President’s proposal is a sign of his priorities, but Congress will ultimately develop its own budget resolution and appropriations bills. Congressional committees already started hearings this week and the Senate and House Budget Committees set dates for their FY2020 budget resolution markups. Duke Health Government Relations has submitted requests to maintain or increase funding for programs critical to Duke Health, including but not limited to: NIH, CDC, Title VII health professions education and training programs, and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs. Our office will continue meeting with congressional offices in support of Duke Health's FY 2020 appropriations priorities through the spring and summer months. 

This week, our office contacted congressional offices urging they sign on to a letter being circulated in the House in support of at least $41.6 billion for the NIH in FY 2020, an increase of $7.2 billion more than what the President’s FY 2020 budget proposes. Thank you to Reps. David Price (D-NC-04), Richard Hudson (R-NC-08), and Mark Meadows (R-NC-11) for signing on in support of NIH funding.

3. HHS Secretary Alex Azar Begins Series of Hearings
This week, HHS Secretary Alex Azar testified at a series of hearings on the President’s FY2020 proposed budget for HHS, including at the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Health, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, and the Senate Finance Committee. Along with supporting the President’s proposal for his department, he also spoke on drug pricing, consumer health care costs and family separations. He also announced that Dr. Norman Sharpless, Director of the National Cancer Institute, would serve as the acting FDA Commissioner.

4. Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act
The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) was reintroduced in the House on Thursday by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and John Katko (R-NY). The legislation would add an additional 3,000 Medicare-supported residency positions each year from 2021 through 2025, for a total of 15,000 slots. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill would distribute one third of the new positions to hospitals that already exceed their Medicare-funded residency cap by at least 10 residents. A section-by-section summary of the bill can be found here.