Alert

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS), today announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has received $39.1 billion in the fiscal year 2019 Senate Labor/HHS appropriations bill, a $2 billion increase over last year’s level. The bill was reported out of the subcommittee today and will be considered by the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

“Investing in NIH research is one of the most important things we can do to bring down health care costs over time,” said Blunt. “Right now, Medicare and Medicaid spend about $186 billion caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease and, without a medical breakthrough, that number is estimated to top $1 trillion by 2050. By preventing, slowing, or stopping some of the most costly and deadly diseases, we’re not just giving hope to patients and families, we’re strengthening our long-term fiscal outlook.”

Blunt previously secured three consecutive funding increases for NIH, bringing the four-year total increase to $9 billion, or 30 percent, under Blunt’s subcommittee chairmanship. The influx in funding over the last three years has restored half of the purchasing power NIH lost since its peak in fiscal year 2003. This year’s increase is estimated to support over 11,400 new grants and will continue to increase NIH’s purchasing power. According to United for Medical Research, in 2017, Missouri received $537.5 million in NIH grant funding, supporting 7,569 jobs and $1.305 billion in economic activity.

Blunt continued, “Investing in medical research is good for our economy. The NIH’s Human Genome Project, part of which was done at Washington University in St. Louis, has resulted in nearly $1 trillion in economic activity – or about $178 for every dollar spent – and counting. Maintaining a pattern of sustained increases will help leverage more private-sector R&D investment to accelerate progress toward new medical discoveries. I will continue working with my colleagues to prioritize NIH research and maintain our competitive edge in innovation.”

Following Are Several of the Key NIH Investments Included in the Labor/HHS Bill:

• $2.34 Billion for Alzheimer’s Disease Research: The bill includes $2.34 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, a $425 million increase from last year’s level. In 2018, Medicare and Medicaid estimate spending $186 billion caring for those with Alzheimer’s, making it the most expensive disease in America. Since Blunt became subcommittee chair four years ago, Alzheimer’s disease research funding has nearly quadrupled, increasing from $631 million to $2.34 billion. For the first time, funding will meet and surpass the goal set forth in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s disease.
  
  
• $1.3 Billion for Opioid & Pain-Related Research: The bill includes $1.3 billion for research on opioid addiction, development of opioids alternatives, pain management, and addiction treatment. If patients with acute or chronic pain do not have reasonable access to non-addictive pain medications or alternative treatments, it will be difficult to get the opioid crisis under control. This includes $500 million in dedicated funding provided to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Drug Abuse that was created in last year’s omnibus funding bill.
  
  
• $560 Million for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA): The measure includes $560 million, an increase of $17.3 million, for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ CTSA program. Washington University’s CTSA is part of the national program aimed at accelerating discoveries toward better health.
  
  
• $429.4 Million for the BRAIN Initiative: The measure increases funding for the BRAIN initiative by $29 million above FY2018. The BRAIN Initiative is developing a more complete understanding of brain function, which could help millions of people who suffer from a wide variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.
  
  
• $86 Million Increase for the Precision Medicine Initiative: The measure includes $376 million to fund the All of Us precision medicine study, an increase of $86 million from FY2018. This study will take into account differences in biology, lifestyle, and environment to discover new paths towards delivering individualized precision medicine. National enrollment began on May 6, 2018.
  
  
• $120 Million for Research on the Universal Flu Vaccine:  The 2017-2018 influenza season was a high severity season with elevated and geographically widespread influenza activity across the country for an extended period. The bill provides an increase of $20 million in targeted funding to advance progress toward a universal flu vaccine. Under Blunt’s leadership, funding for a universal flu vaccine has doubled in the last two years. St. Louis University is part of NIH’s Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units working on a universal flu vaccine.
  
  
• $12.6 Million for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act: The Gabriella Miller Kids First Act, which was signed into law in 2014, created a dedicated fund for pediatric medical research. The bill provides the resources authorized under the law, and prioritizes funding for pediatric cancer research.
  
  
• $550 Million to Combat Antibiotic Resistance: To help combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, the bill provides a total of $550 million, an increase of $37 million over last year’s level, to expand efforts to develop new antibiotics, create rapid diagnostic tests, and build a national genome sequence database on all reported resistant human infections. Antibiotics have been used to successfully treat patients for more than 70 years, but over time, the drugs have become less effective as organisms adapt to the drugs designed to kill them.
  
  
• $6.15 Billion for Cancer Research:  The bill provides $6.15 billion for the National Cancer Institute, an increase of $182.3 million above FY2018. The bill provides new funding for the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access and Research (STAR) Act, which Blunt cosponsored. The STAR Act is a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that would expand opportunities for childhood cancer research, improve efforts to identify and track incidence of childhood cancer, and enhance the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors. It was signed into law on June 6, 2018.

In addition, the bill provides increases to every NIH Institute and Center to continue investments in innovative research that will advance fundamental knowledge and speed the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and preventive measures to improve the health of all Americans.