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The stimulus package and lungs

Well, whether you love it, or you hate it - it's done.

Here's a message from the American Thoracic Society about the measures in the bill of particular interest to them - in other words, here's what in the package for those of us who are very interested in lungs! Woohoo! Grin.


Congress Passes Final Economic Stimulus Bill
The House and Senate gave final approval today to the $790 economic stimulus legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The House passed the bill by 246-183 and the Senate followed by a vote of 60 - 38. The President is expected to sign the legislation into law within the next few days.


The bill includes the following priority measures for the ATS:• $10 billion for NIH, with:o $7.4 billion for NIH Institutes and Centerso $1 billion for competitive research infrastructure constructiono $0.3 billion for shared research equipmento $0.8 billion for the NIH Director for two year research projects. • $1 billion for CDC prevention and wellness activities, including o $300 million for immunizations, o $650 million for community-based prevention and wellness and o $50 million for healthcare-associated infections

The bill also includes the following other key health research and services provisions:• $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research at the AHRQ, NIH and office of the Health and Human Services Secretary• $3 billion for the National Science Foundation• $19 billion to accelerate adoption of electronic health information technology • $87 billion in federal matching funds for state Medicaid programs

Passage of the economic stimulus bill with the inclusion of funding for the NIH and CDC marks a success for ATS advocacy efforts. The Washington Office thanks all members who responded proactively to our action alerts on the stimulus legislation.

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