The Senate and House Committees on Appropriations passed out of committee bills funding the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and the Department of Defense at the end of July and mid-September. These bills include extensive guidance to agencies on critical health programs. These actions followed extensive legislative advocacy efforts across multiple committees and chambers throughout the appropriations cycle by the professionals in the legislative practice.
In the appropriations bills and committee reports, the legislative team successfully secured funding and report language that:
- Maintains funding for the National Spina Bifida Program at current levels, representing an increase over the President’s budget recommendation. The National Spina Bifida Program remains the only federal program exclusively dedicated to Spina Bifida research and support services.
- Secures inclusion of report language emphasizing the critical importance of the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry and its essential component parts for advancing research and patient care coordination.
- Obtains $500,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) earmark funding that will enable a large Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in the Northeast implement an innovative urban agriculture program. The initiative will create employment opportunities while improving community health through agricultural and vocational education, providing students from 17 surrounding municipalities with Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) in hydroponic gardening and local food systems as part of their Vocational Agriculture education and career preparation.
- Facilitates inclusion of both bill text and report language supporting national postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Residency Training Programs funded by the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), and allocates $6 million for grants to establish, expand, and maintain community-based nurse practitioner residency and fellowship programs that are accredited or pursuing accreditation for postgraduate nurse practitioners specializing in primary care or behavioral health, with preference given to programs operating within FQHCs.
- Obtains complementary language in the Senate Report supporting postgraduate Nurse Practitioner (NP) Residency Training within the broader Advanced Nursing Education (ANE) Program, which is funded at $89.6 million for FY 2026. The Committee specifically highlighted “the importance of strengthening the primary care workforce and training providers to work in community-based settings, particularly by funding Advanced Nursing Education and Residency Programs.”
- Secures Senate Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Committee approval of report language accompanying the FY 2026 DOD Bill ensuring that orthotics and prosthetics outcomes research remains eligible for funding through the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program, funded at $370 million within the DOD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
- Preserves the Oral Health Training Programs at level funding, despite cuts to other Title VII programs at HRSA, and allocates funds for Pediatric Dentistry to support the residencies in pediatric oral health and the Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program.
- Secures direct funding and report language for the Healthy Start Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring Initiative to implement a successful pilot program that identifies preeclampsia in high-risk women and communities.
- Includes report language encouraging Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) Program State grantees to foster collaboration with comprehensive home-based behavioral healthcare services for young people and adolescents. Additionally, includes report language directing CMS to strengthen and expand access to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), including urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue guidance outlining how states can implement intensive home and community-based behavioral health services to address the growing behavioral and mental health crisis.
The legislative team maintains a robust appropriations and federal grant practice that is available for consultation. For more information, contact info@powerslaw.com and you will be referred to the appropriate professional.