On October 18, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee released its remaining draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, which funds many federal agencies important to the integrative health community. In a typical year, the committee would have acted on the bills many months ago. However, procedural and political delays conspired to prevent the Committee from acting on all but 3 of their 12 annual appropriations bills before FY 2021 ended on September 30. By releasing their remaining draft bills, the Senate Appropriations Committee indicated their willingness to negotiate with leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives on final FY 2022 appropriations measures.
Below is a table summarizing the funding levels that the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have proposed for public health and research agencies most important to the integrative health community. Ideally, the House and Senate will negotiate final spending levels for all federal agencies (that President Biden can approve and sign into law) before December 3 when the current continuing resolution expires.
IHPC will continue to work with its partners to urge Congress to recommend the highest level of funding for all of its federal agencies of interest in the final FY 2022 appropriations bills.
Read the full story and see the funding chart here
| Agencies | FY 2022 House Funding | FY 2022 Senate Funding |
| National Institutes of Health | $49 billion | $45.5 billion |
| NIH/National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health | $185.3 million | $184.2 million |
| Health Research and Services Administration Community Health Centers | $1.8 billion | $1.7 billion |
| Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality | $380 million | $380 million |
In addition to funding, reports accompanying the bills included language regarding issues important to IHPC. Below are highlights of some of the major provisions in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations report that IHPC is following.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Creative Arts Therapy–The Committee recognizes the potential of creative art therapies as impactful tools for addressing the effects of disorders of aging. However, clinical studies on these applications either have been limited in scale, have not been designed within a scientific and statistically significant framework, or have produced only preliminary or anecdotal results. The Trans-NIH 137 Music and Health Work Group, under the leadership of NCCIH, is currently developing a toolkit to improve the efficiency of future clinical trials for music-based interventions to treat and prevent disorders of aging. The NCCIH is directed to provide the Committee with a report within 180 days of enactment of this Act on the progress of the toolkit’s development and any plans for pilot projects to test and refine the toolkit, including future funding needs.
Pain Management–The Committee includes an increase of $26,000,000 for NCCIH to support research related to pain and pain management, consistent with the fiscal year 2022 budget request. The Committee urges NIH, along with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, to continue to support research on non-pharmacological treatments for pain management and comorbidities including opioid misuse, abuse, and disorder in military personnel, veterans, and their families. The Committee is encouraged by NCCIH’s work to support research on behavioral strategies to manage chronic pain and improve adherence to the medical treatment of opioid use disorders and reduce the psychological and physical cravings to use opioids, however, opioid abuse continues to persist among young veterans. The Committee urges the NIH, VA, and DOD to support and expand research on non-pharmacological treatments to ensure the best quality of care for our nation’s veterans and service members. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (Public Law 114–198) calls for an expansion of research and education on and delivery of complimentary and integrative health to veterans, and the NCCIH can play an important role in coordinating efforts with the VA, DOD, and other relevant agencies.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Pain Management Taskforce Report–The Committee requests an update on the dissemination of the HHS Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force Report in the fiscal year 2023 Congressional Justification.
Health Research and Services Administration
Public Health Workforce Development–The Committee provides $20,000,000, an increase of $3,000,000, for Public Health Workforce Development. This program line, also called Public Health and Preventive Medicine, funds programs that are authorized in titles III and VII of the PHS Act (Public Law 111–148) and support awards to schools of medicine, osteopathic medicine, public health, and integrative medicine programs.