Pardon Our Dust
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On April 9, 2021, President Biden submitted his discretionary budget to Congress, setting out a blueprint for priority areas in the coming year. McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president, Stephanie Kennan, commented on the budget’s healthcare provisions in an April 14 article for MedCity News.
A major request in the budget is funding to strengthen the public health infrastructure, which includes $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This represents the largest funding jump requested in nearly two decades.
“The CDC has been the gold standard in public health initiatives, and this funding will help them move forward as well restore some of their luster,” said Kennan. “The pandemic has shown how important it is to have an agency like the CDC operating at its best.”
Other healthcare provisions in the budget include funding for the strategic national stockpile, programs focused on health equity, combating the U.S. maternal mortality rate, services for mental health professionals in schools and funding to expand home care, community-based services and other programs for the elderly and/or disabled.
“The emphasis on home and community-based services surprised me,” Kennan said. “Although Biden had talked about long-term care, we as a nation have not made long-term care a priority for a while.”
Administration officials are aiming to release the full budget in late spring.