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Obama introduces budget - increases in NIH budget proposed

Below is a summary of President Obama's budget proposal and how it would affect several agencies near and dear to those of us with rare diseases such as the National Institutes of Health. It is only a summary and right now I'm not commenting - only sharing. The summary comes from the American Thoracic Society newsletter. They do a great job of following these things. Of course I'm happy to see that Obama wants to give more money to the NIH, but I want to learn more about which programs might be affected.

The ATS follows the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes's budget - and that is slated to increase which is a great thing for lung disease. Our research, although pulmonary fibrosis affects our lungs and we are a bleeding disorder, is housed under the genetics branch. Right now I'm not able to find a summary of how the budget will affect genetics - but I'll keep looking.

At any rate, this is a long way from becoming reality anyway. It will have to go through the very long budget process on the hill and everything and anything could be changed.

Just something for us all to keep our eyes on:


President Obama Releases Proposed 2011 Budget
This week, the President released the proposed budget for FY2011. The President's budget proposal is $3.8 trillion in total, a 5.7 percent increase in federal spending over FY2010. Proposed funding levels for specific programs and agencies that the ATS monitors at the NIH, CDC, VA and USAID are listed in several charts below. The following are some highlights of the proposed health research and services budget:* The NIH receives a $1 billion increase (+3.2 percent) for a total funding of $32.23 billion.* * The CDC's budget is cut by $125 million (-2 percent), for a total funding level of $6.342 billion. NIOSH is one CDC program that receives a significant funding increase despite this overall cut.* The VA budget is increased $9 million (+1.9 percent), for a total funding level $591 million. * The EPA's budget is cut of $270 million (-2.6 percent) for a funding level of $10.020 billion. * HRSA received an increase of $28 million (+1.25 percent) for a total of $2.508 billion. * The FDA received an increase of $146 million (+7 percent), for a funding level of $2.508 billion.* AHRQ received a 50 percent increase for total funding for $661 million. Included in that funding is a10-fold increase for comparative effectiveness research ($286 million total funding).Please note that the NIH funding numbers need some qualification. As you know, the NIH received $10 billion in stimulus funding over the past two fiscal years. The Administration's budget does NOT include stimulus funds in calculating the NIH budget base. So while the NIH is receiving a 3.2 percent increase over the 2010 base budget, the NIH's total budget will shrink after the stimulus funds have expired.The next steps in the annual budget process are for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to draft FY2011 spending bills, which are usually ready in April. The President's budget serves as a guideline to the Appropriations Committees, who may allocate different funding levels for programs.

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