Congress completes work on fiscal year 2024 funding

Congress averted a partial government shutdown by passing on March 23 the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (HR 2882), a $1.2 trillion deal that funds HHS and five other spending bills for the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year. The measure, signed into law by President Biden, increases HHS funding by $955 million over FY 2023 for a total of $117.4 billion, NIH funding by $300 million for a total of $48.6 billion and CDC funding by $4.5 million for a total of $9.2 billion. Despite lobbying efforts by some members of Congress and stakeholder groups, other healthcare priorities were not included in the package, such as price transparency, site-neutral facility payments, pharmacy benefit manager reform and reauthorization for pandemic and emergency response authorities as well as opioid treatment programs. These issues could still be addressed before the end of the 118th Congress in a year-end package.