House Appropriations Slashes Labor, Education, Health and Human Services Bill

The U.S. House Appropriations committee approved a spending bill for FY14 that slashes the Labor, Education, Health and Human Services bill to its lowest since 1998 when adjusted for inflation. The bill makes deep cuts for medical research and other domestic programs.

The proposed funding is 18.6 percent below 2013 funding levels under sequestration, 22.2 percent below the original appropriations for FY13. These cuts will jeopardize medical innovation and programs that protect Americans’ health.

How low is the suggested appropriations amount? In terms of absolute dollars, it is less than the FY01 funding level. If the 18.6% cut are applied across the board to each program, this proposed allocation would cut more than $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health, $1 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a combined $1.5 billion from the Health Resources and Services Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Biomedical and health research fuels private sector innovation and the development of new therapies and devices to prevent and fight disease. Contact your representatives and urge them to protect funding for research.