2018 Budget Boosts NIH Funding - CDC ME/CFS Program Spared - Insurance Markets Not Stabilized

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
NIH Budget Grows for Third Year in a Row

For the past two years Donald Trump has tried to cut the NIH budget significantly but NIH spending has bipartisan support and the 2018 budget resolution increased NIH funding significantly (once again). - about 10% or $3 billion more - for at least the third year in a row.

The NIH Budget is now at $37 BILLION dollars...( a lot of money out there if we can get a hold of it).

Brain diseases won big and so did Precision medicine - each of which could conceivably help us out at some point.

What it means for ME/CFS is unclear. It does mean the NIH has a bit wriggle room financially but whether they will use it for ME/CFS is another story. What we really need right now is an RFA for individual grant applications. Our researchers are actually applying for research grants, believe it or not, at a record low rate (blog coming) - although that should change in the upcoming year as the losers of the NIH research center competition put their grant applications in.

"The bill includes increases for every NIH institute and center, and specifically earmarks $1.8 billion for Alzheimer's disease research, a $414 million increase over FY2017; $400 million for the BRAIN Initiative, a $140 million increase over last year; and $290 million for the All of Us precision medicine initiative, a $60 million boost over the previous year. It also provides $5.1 billion to the US Food and Drug Administration — $483 million more than FY2017 — and includes $996 million in 21st Century Cures Act funding."

https://www.genomeweb.com/policy-le...pending-bill-boosting-nih-budget#.Wra2WqjwbIU

Affordable Care Markets Not Stabilized

On the minus side for those using the Affordable Care Act the spending bill did not include money to stabilize the insurance markets because Democrats refused to agree to restrictions in abortion funding. (Restrictions in abortion funding were apparently not included.)

CDC ME/CFS Program Saved

Once again advocates from the SMCI and elsewhere went to save ME/CFS CDC funding which was again zeroed out but is now back at about $5 million/year. At some point that program is going to start publishing the results of the huge multi-site study.....
 

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