Links

Weekly Highlights

Archives (By Date)

Health Care Reform

CMS Regulations

340b Issues

Title VII & Title VIII

Federal Budget

Medicare Physician Reimbursement

Research Funding

Health IT

Post-Election Transition

Search

Web People

Federal Budget Archives

September 4, 2009. Senior Senators speculated this week that Congress will not pass all 12 spending bills before the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.  The House has passed all of its appropriations bills, but the Senate has only approved four at this time.  The Senate Labor-HHS appropriations legislation has not been heard.   The appropriations bills will need to be reconciled in a House-Senate conference after the Senate approves the measures.  Should Congress not pass the appropriations bills before October 1st, a continuing resolution will need to be passed to fund government operations.

July 31, 2009. It was announced this week that the VCU Health System was awarded $48,824 in ARRA funds to develop community-based, competitive employment opportunities for individuals with Asperger's syndrome and other Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
On the Hill. This week, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, announced $200 million in grants to expand the training of health care professionals. The funds are expected to train approximately 8,000 students and credentialed health professionals by the end of fiscal year 2010 and are distributed as follows:
· $80.2 million for scholarships, loans, and loan repayment awards
· $47.6 million for primary care training programs
· $50 million in grants to health professions training programs for equipment
· $10.2 million to increase health professions diversity
· $10.5 million to strengthen the public health workforce
· $1.5 million to support the efforts of state professional licensing boards in reducing telemedicine barriers

July 24, 2009. The House passed the Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill today with a vote of 264 Yeas – 153 Nays and 16 No Votes.  $600,000 for Massey Cancer Center was included in this bill thanks to the support of Congressmen Scott and Wittman.  The Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up its version of the bill on Tuesday, July 28.

July 10, 2009. I am pleased to report that $600,000 was included in the House Labor – HHS Appropriations bill for Massey Cancer Center. This bill was scheduled for mark-up this morning. We are working with our Congressional Delegation on making sure this money is included in the final versions in both the House and Senate.

May 29, 2009. We have been working with our Congressional Delegation over the past few months on appropriations requests for VCU's federal priorities.  The Congressional offices submitted the following budget requests on behalf of VCU:  

Senator Jim Webb

•         $1,000,000 for Atlantic Rivers Institute

Senator Mark Warner

•         $1,000,000 for Atlantic Rivers Institute

•         $500,000 for Massey Cancer Center Vivarium

Representative Bobby Scott

•         $1,000,000 for Atlantic Rivers Institute

•         $1,000,000 for Massey Cancer Center Vivarium

Representative Rob Wittman

•         $1,000,000 for Massey Cancer Center Vivarium

Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (OH)

Over the next month, staff of these offices will be working with budget committee staff on these requests.  We will provide updates as the process progresses. 

May 8, 2009. The Department of Health and Human Services released its proposed FY 2010 Budget in Brief this week. According to that document, the President's budget calls for an FY 2010 program level of $30.996 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is an increase of $443 million (1.45% over the FY 2009 comparable, excluding American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. A summary of the President's budget for NIH can be found at NIH Office of Budget site.

In other budget news, for Title VII health professions training programs, the budget requests $265 million, a 19.4% increase over the FY 2009 omnibus. This funding level represents increases for most Title VII programs, as well as a substantial increase for state dental health improvement grants authorized under section 340G of the Public Health Service Act.

The budget also requests $263 million for the Title VIII nursing education programs, including an $88 million (237 percent) increase for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. Additional details on program specific funding levels in the President's FY 2010 request to appropriated funding levels in FYs 2005-2009 can be seen here.

If you have questions, contact Don Gehring (dcgehrin@vcu.edu) or Mark Smith (mesmith@vcu.edu). Our office phone number is: 804-828-1235.

Virginia Commonwealth University | Government Relations
Date Last Modified: June 30, 2008
Contact Department Webmaster