November 16, 2001

Dear Senators Harkin and Specter:

The Friends of AHRQ thank you for your support for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). We are asking for your continued leadership on behalf of the Agency as you conference the FY2002 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill.

The Friends of AHRQ support the House mark of $306 million for AHRQ in FY2002. We also support the inclusion of an additional $10 million in funding for medical errors, for a total FY2002 appropriation for the Agency of $316 million. This level of funding will provide resources for needed research on health costs, quality, and outcomes, including new investigator-initiated research; support expansion of research on medical errors; and provide support for the Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys (MEPS).

The Friends also request that the Committee support the Senate position of providing funding for AHRQ entirely from budget authority funding rather than relying heavily upon one-percent evaluation funds. Although use of some amount of one-percent evaluation funds is certainly justified given the crosscutting nature of the Agency's research and particularly MEPS, reliance on this funding stream has been of concern.

Again, the Friends of AHRQ thank you for your support of AHRQ. With your continued leadership, the Agency will continue to fund and support important health services research critical to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Aging Research
Ambulatory Pediatric Association
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Associations for Dental Research
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine
American Federation for Medical Research
American Geriatrics Society
American Pediatric Society
American Psychiatric Association
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of Departments of Family Medicine
Association of Family Practice Residency Directors
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Professors of Medicine
Association of Schools of Public Health
Association of Subspecialty Professors
Coalition for Health Services Research
Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital
Medical Group Management Association
North American Primary Care Research Group
Society of General Internal Medicine
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Society for Pediatric Research
Society for Women's Health Research