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December 7, 2000
Dear Congressional Leaders: I am writing on behalf of the Coalition for Health Services Research, representing 2,500 health services researchers. The members of the Coalition are concerned about the possibility that action on the Fiscal Year 2001 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill will not be completed within the next week and may not be resolved for several months. Health services research is critical to inform key health policy decisions facing Congress including Medicare reform, prescription drug coverage, reducing medical errors, and strategies for increasing health care coverage for the uninsured. It also plays a critical role of bringing the miracles of biomedical research into actual practice to benefit the American people. A delay in funding health services research will delay the information needed to inform these critical decisions. Most federal spending on health services research is funded through the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill. Agencies that fund health services research include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Health Care Financing Administration's Office of Strategic Planning, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As you know, a bipartisan agreement was already reached to fund these programs. I urge Congress to pass this bipartisan agreement as quickly as possible. Unless this Congress passes the appropriations bill now, vital research will continue to go unfunded, leaving policymakers without the best possible data upon which to base their decisions. For example, without the bipartisan bill, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will not have the funding necessary to begin research into the causes of medical errors. Health care consumers should not have to wait another year for research to begin on ways to improve patient safety. Our members are grateful for your support of their research in the past. We appreciate your continued leadership and support for health services research. Please uphold funding for this needed research and approve the FY2001 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill before adjournment. Sincerely, W. David Helms |
