HHS COVID Funding Dry Before Last Minute Ask
COVID has placed an incredible strain on human capital and on fundamental economics, particularly when it comes to private and public health. While the United States government has allocated nearly $6 Trillion in total for coronavirus relief, it was recently discovered that Department of Health and Human Services indicated to Congress that the entirety of these funds have been spoken for.
In part of a government spending bill that is still in the works, the Biden administration is asking for an additional $30 Billion for public health. The overall spending bill needs to be approved by tomorrow, March 11, to avoid a government shutdown.
A group of 36 Republican senators, led by Utah Senator Mitt Romney, sent a letter indicating that they wouldn’t be willing to approve the $30B ask unless the $6T before it can be accounted for. The senators indicate that while they have supported other public health expenditures, there isn’t a clear case for increased spending.
The senators have also followed up, asking for more detail about how the $30B would be spent, and with an inquiry as to whether or not there may be money remaining from the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan that could cover the cost instead.
Since the initial figure was floated, it seems that the Biden administration has been willing to make concessions, and the final allocation is expected to be as little as half of the original ask. Whatever the number, it seems agreed upon that just under $5 Billion will be directed toward the international pandemic response.
The timing of the discussion could allow for some opportunism on either side of the political aisle, but it’s likely that an agreement will be reached not only because of the government shutdown deadline, but also because the bill will include urgently needed aid to Ukraine amidst an escalating war.
It’s an incredibly important topic for the healthcare community as it would mean no new government spending on categories like vaccines or testing.
At Extract, we’re proud to support our healthcare customers’ missions of providing the best patient care available. We’re generally pretty in awe of the great things our customers are doing; from research institutions to transplant centers and from oncology specialists to children’s hospitals, there’s always something miraculous going on. It’s been even more impressive to watch our clients adapt to pandemic conditions and even go virtual in the quest for a better workflow.
We don’t like to interfere with that, but we do try to help organizations avoid budget crises by stretching their document processing dollars so clinicians can act on data rather than worry about where to find it or when it will be available.
If you’d like to learn more, please send us a note through our contact form and we’d be happy to schedule an introductory phone call or brief software demonstration.
