Congress passed – and the president signed into law – a $1.2 trillion spending package to fund nearly all federal agencies, including HHS, through Sept. 30, the remainder of the current fiscal year. The department received an overall funding increase, with modest gains for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which support medical research and rural health and workforce access, respectively. The CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which fund disease prevention and substance use and prevention programs, respectively, saw slight reductions.
The bill includes several bipartisan healthcare provisions that nearly passed in December 2024, such as pharmacy benefit manager reforms, Medicare Advantage provider directory requirements and an extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities through calendar year (CY) 2027. It also extends the Medicare geographic practice cost index floor through CY 2026 and reauthorizes and extends funding for the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act through fiscal year 2030. This initiative promotes the use of mental health and substance use services by healthcare providers – an effort AAOMS has supported through a coalition led by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Finally, the bill limits the use of forward-funded research grants and blocks proposed caps on indirect research costs across NIH and other federal agencies.
