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House and Senate Pass Concurrent Resolutions The House and Senate on April 2 each passed their respective fiscal year 2010 budget resolutions (HConRes85, SConRes13). The House and Senate both provide a 3.6 percent increase over the FY 2009 omnibus funding level for "Function 550," i.e., discretionary health programs, including those that support health services research. The House provides a 9.3 percent increase in overall non-defense discretionary funding; the Senate version provides a slightly lower non-defense discretionary increase of seven percent. These increases open the possibility for a higher "302(b)" allocation for the Labor-HHS-Ed Subcommittee-a bigger piece of the pie to fund programs that support health services research and health data, including AHRQ, NCHS, NIH, CDC, and HRSA. Both the House and Senate budget resolutions include deficit-neutral reserve funds to improve health care, including efforts to expand coverage, improve health care quality, and reduce health care costs. Adoption of the budget resolution does not require Congress to act on the priorities recommended through reserve funds; it provides only a blueprint should Congress pursue these priorities in FY 2010. In any event, inclusion of these reserve funds is further indication that Congress intends to tackle health reform this year. The House passed its version of the resolution by a 233-196 vote, with no Republican support and 20 Democrats dissenting; the Senate approved its version of the resolution by a 55-43 margin with no Republican support and two Democrats dissenting. The resolutions will go to conference committee after the two-week Easter recess. The president does not sign the budget resolution. The president's official, multivolume budget is expected to be released in late-April. _________________________________ |
