The Senate's Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved its fiscal 2018 bill for HHS funding, sending the proposal to the full Senate.
The legislation contains a proposal appropriating $79.4 billion in discretionary funding to the HHS in fiscal 2018, up $1.7 billion from what it received this fiscal year.
The president's 2018 budget proposal provided HHS with $69 billion in discretionary funding, a $15.1 billion or 17.9% decrease from fiscal 2017. That included a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health.
The bill makes no reference to the budget proposal's series of Medicaid cuts and restructurings for the program. Trump's fiscal 2018 proposed budget suggested the program transition from a federal match program to a block grant or per capita cap program, which was estimated to cut $610 billion from the program by 2028.
The bill was largely unchanged from when it was unveiled Wednesday by the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.
Committee Republicans Thursday rejected a funding amendment offered by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that would have added $1 billion more to the National Institutes of Health's appropriations.
These additional funds would have supported investments in innovative research to advance the development of new therapies, diagnostics and preventive measures to improve the health of all Americans, Murray said.
Republicans said that the funds outlined in the bill were adequate.
It's unclear when the full Senate will take up the bill, as the chamber is focused on passing a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through December.
An edited version of this story can also be found in Modern Healthcare's Sept. 11 print edition.
