August 6, 2001

The Honorable Ralph Regula
U.S. House of Representatives
2306 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Regula:

The Coalition for Health Services Research, representing over 3,000 health services researchers and 130 organizations that produce or make use of research, is asking for your continued support in funding those government agencies that fund or otherwise support the field of health services research.

The Coalition is asking for the following funding levels:

• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: $400 million;
  
• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of Strategic Planning: $97.3 million;
  
• Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health
  Statistics: $180 million;
  
• National Institutes of Health: $23 billion.

For more information on the rationale for these funding levels, please review our written testimony on the web at http://www.chsr.org/pdf/testimony2001.pdf.

We are grateful for your past support of the health services research community. Health services research results are increasingly used by every segment of the health care delivery system to evaluate the impact of the many changes in the organization and financing of health care on quality, access and cost. This research supports private and public sector efforts to improve patient safety, increase quality, expand access, and provide the most efficacious treatment for a range of diseases and conditions. An increased investment in health services research is needed to ensure that the increased investments we are making in biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will result in improved health services and outcomes for the American people.

On the research continuum, health services research begins where biomedical research ends. Health services research enhances biomedical advances by translating them into clinical practice through the dissemination of information to
consumers, providers, employers, health plans, and policymakers, which ensures that patients receive appropriate, quality care. The essential role of health services research has been recognized in every major health care bill passed by Congress in recent years. It will also play a critical role in the key health care debates facing the 107th Congress, including:

• Medicare reform;
  
• National Governors' Association Medicaid reform proposal to modernize and streamline Medicaid;
  
• Medicare prescription drug benefit;
  
• Medicare+Choice reimbursement policy;
  
• Targeted subsidies for low-wage, uninsured workers.

An investment is also needed to be made in the research infrastructure. Congress recognized this last year when it included language in its final conference report encouraging the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to devote more resources for investigator-initiated grants and for training new researchers. Investing in this infrastructure allows researchers to bring forth new areas of study. It is noteworthy that the landmark Institute of Medicine study, To Err is Human, was based on investigator-initiated research funded in the early 1990's by AHRQ's predecessor agency.

The need to improve our health care system and the concomitant need for health services research information cannot and will not be effectively met without your continued support. With your support for the health services research being funded by a variety of federal agencies, millions of Americans will no longer undergo unneeded or inappropriate medical care, or suffer from preventable medical errors.

Sincerely,
W. David Helms, Ph.D.
President and CEO