Calling for increased funding to support medical research

APA Services joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stakeholder community (PDF, 306KB)opens in new window in recommending at least $51.303 billion in funding for NIH in fiscal year (FY) 2025. This funding level would be a $3.579-billion and 7.5% increase above the FY 2024 funding level, allowing the agency’s base budget to keep pace with the biomedical research and development price index (BRDPI) and provide a meaningful growth of 5%. Increases above BRDPI for the agency supports additional research conducted and supported by NIH’s 27 institutes and centers (ICs). The community’s recommendations are a step toward providing sustained, meaningful growth and the expansion of NIH’s capacity to conduct and support medical research.

Additionally, for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an autonomous agency within the NIH established to focus on “high potential, high impact” research, APA Services endorses the group’s recommendation of $1.5 billion in funding separate from that of the NIH. The association agrees that any funding for ARPA-H should supplement, and not supplant, foundational investment in NIH.

Five months into the fiscal year, NIH finally received its FY 2024 budget of $47.1 billion, which provided a net increase of $300 million in new funding across nine ICs. This included a $75-million increase for the National Institute on Mental Health and maintained FY 2023 funding levels for the other ICs. However, this sum reflects a $378-million reduction (0.8%) in NIH’s base budget below the FY 2023 funding level. The decrease is the result of a scheduled decrease in mandatory funding available to NIH in FY 2024 provided through the 21st Century Cures Actopens in new window. The act provided multiyear funding ($4.8 billion over 10 years beginning in 2016) that required annual appropriations for four science initiatives:

• All of Us Research Programopens in new window
• Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiativeopens in new window
• Cancer Moonshot℠opens in new window
• Regenerative Medicine Innovation Projectopens in new window

APA Services will continue to advocate for adequate funding for NIH and endorses the Coalition for Health Funding’s (CHF) statement (PDF, 179KB)opens in new window in expressing its disappointment with the FY 2024 funding levels provided to public health and science agencies, including NIH, along with the extended congressional budget process, noting Congress cannot repeat this same process in FY 2025. An APA Advocacy staff member is on CHF’s board of directors.

For more information, contact Angela L. Sharpe.