The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a 2019 fiscal funding bill for the Health and Human Services Department that contains nearly $4 billion to fight the opioid crisis and a $2 billion boost for the National Institutes of Health.
The $179 billion appropriations bill, which advanced by a vote of 30-1 on Thursday, now heads to the Senate floor. It also includes funding for the Department of Labor and Department of Education.
Senators cheered the boost for NIH, a top bipartisan priority..
“I’m proud we were able to provide the fourth consecutive funding increase for the National Institutes of Health, which will pave the way for new medical breakthroughs and lower health care costs over the long term,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairman of the HHS-Labor appropriations subcommittee.
The bill also contains $3.7 billion to fight the opioid crisis. The funding would be directed to communities that are hit hardest by the epidemic, which federal data shows killed more than 42,000 people in 2016.
It also includes $3.4 billion, an increase of $195 million over current levels, for mental health treatment, prevention, and research.
