The $1.3 trillion spending bill that Congress released Wednesday night leaves untouched healthcare provisions that lawmakers debated for months, including funding for Obamacare and changes to Medicare that drug companies lobbied for.
But several other healthcare programs were funded or changed, including a provision on gun violence research in the wake of recent mass shootings and a boost in funding for medical research that surpasses years of recent spending patterns.
Here are some details about how the spending deal will affect healthcare programs:
A tweak in the language involving research on gun violence
The bill makes a change to a 1996 law that bans federal dollars from going toward gun control, but that advocates said got in the way of allowing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study firearm-related violence. Opponents of the former language, which came in the “Dickey Amendment,” said it had often been misinterpreted as a ban on gun violence research. The bill once read: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” Under the new spending bill it says, “None of the funds made available in this title may be used, in whole or in part, to advocate or promote gun control.”
$1.1 billion increase for the CDC
The legislation gives the CDC $8.3 billion, about $1.1 billion above the fiscal 2017 level. This includes a $45 million increase to the Public Health Preparedness and Response programs, which help to ensure stockpiles of supplies for use in a bioterror attack or pandemic are available. CDC also gets $480 million to create a new biosafety lab to support critical biodefense research.
$3 billion increase for NIH
The bill includes $37.1 billion this year for the National Institutes of Health, a $3 billion increase over last year’s level. The boost follows two consecutive $2 billion increases over the past two years. “The previous two funding increases for the National Institutes of Health have fundamentally changed the prospects of scientists looking to treat and cure the most costly and deadly diseases impacting millions of Americans,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., in a statement. “This year’s increase will further that progress and advance our goal of maintaining a pattern of sustained increases for medical research.”
The boost comes after the Trump administration targeted funding for NIH in last year’s budget proposal. But the research agency has lots of support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and lawmakers have sought to boost agency funding after it stagnated in recent years.
$513 million to combat superbugs
Included in the funding for NIH is $513 million to boost efforts to develop new antibiotics and create new rapid diagnostic tests to battle drug-resistant infections. The funding is $50 million more than last year’s funding level. The funding also includes money to build a national genome sequence database to house all reported drug-resistant human infections.
$4 billion for the opioid crisis
The funding will go toward developing better treatments for people with opioid addictions as well as treatments for people who suffer from chronic pain, who often turn to opioids for relief. The funds also will cover law enforcement efforts, prevention and access to medications. “We are putting forward unprecedented support to combat the opioid crisis in our communities and dedicating more resources to improving mental health services,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “With this measure we are reaffirming our commitment to improving the physical and emotional well-being of the people of this country.”
Bans federal dollars from paying for abortions
Spending bills have long contained this provision, known as the Hyde Amendment. The law contains exemptions for rape, incest, or a pregnant woman’s life or health. Abortion rights groups have advocated for its repeal.
