Biden’s budget blueprint ramps up HHS, CDC preparedness and response funding

President Joe Biden’s first budget proposal would authorize the largest funding increase in nearly two decades for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), going above and beyond funding the agency’s disease-focused work at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Biden’s total $6 trillion budget blueprint for fiscal year 2022 would include $8.7 billion in discretionary funding for the CDC, part of which would be targeted for rebuilding “international capacity to detect, prepare for, and respond to emerging global threats,” according to budget documents released on May 28 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

“Investing in long-term, sustainable programs and systems to address deficits in the public health system — equitably for all Americans — will put the nation on better footing to confront future threats,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Friday. 

More generally, HHS, which oversees the CDC, released its Fiscal Year 2022 Budget in Brief: Strengthening Health and Opportunities for All Americans showing that the FY 2022 budget proposes $131.8 billion in discretionary budget authority and $1.5 trillion in mandatory funding. “The FY 2022 budget makes significant investments in our preparedness and response capabilities,” according to the brief.

For instance, Biden’s proposal would provide $905 million for the Strategic National Stockpile, an increase of $200 million above FY 2021 enacted funding, to maintain a robust inventory of supplies and a modern distribution model to ensure readiness for a future pandemic. 

The proposed budget also would provide $823 million for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), an increase of $227 million above FY 2021 enacted, to support novel medical countermeasures (MCMs) platforms that would enable faster, more effective public health and medical responses to detect and treat infectious diseases, the brief says. 

Additionally, Biden seeks to support a strong public health workforce by addressing gaps in the existing public health infrastructure at federal, state and local levels, according to the HHS brief, which notes the budget would provide mandatory funding of $30 billion over four years for HHS, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Energy for MCMs manufacturing and related activities to create jobs and prepare Americans for future pandemics. 

“The president’s FY 2022 budget invests in building a healthier America by giving us the resources we need to protect and invest in the well-being of families nationwide today and the years to come,” HHS Secretary Xavier Beccera said last week. “With these new investments, we are on better footing to take on the next public health crisis, partner with states, and support families right now who have struggled as a result of the pandemic.”

Overall, HHS requested $133.7 billion in discretionary funding — a $25.3 billion, or 23.4 increase, over the enacted budget of FY 2021. 

Regarding the CDC, the proposed HHS budget portion also would provide the agency with additional resources to further develop and expand teams of highly trained and deployable public health experts to support preparedness at local levels, according to the HHS brief. 

“To ensure that CDC is well positioned to address current and emerging public health threats, the budget restores capacity to the world’s preeminent public health agency, by investing an additional $1.6 billion over the FY 2021 level for a total discretionary level of $8.7 billion,” according to HHS.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has shown the importance of producing reliable data. “Bad inputs lead to bad outputs, and without good data, CDC cannot effectively respond to a public health threat and make well-informed decisions to protect the American people,” according to the HHS brief, which says that funding provided in the FY 2022 budget would allow the CDC to modernize public health data collection nationwide. 

Additionally, FY 2022 investments in Global Public Health Protection would enable the CDC to not only address preparedness within the United States, but also support core public health capacity improvements overseas and strengthen global health security by improving its ability to deploy experts internationally and support efforts to prevent, detect and respond to emerging global biological threats.

“CDC will invest in global health security and continue to fight health threats worldwide while simultaneously enhancing domestic preparedness to address threats here at home,” HHS said. “Domestic health is increasingly impacted by global factors. CDC’s global health security efforts include conducting research to ensure efficient disease response before it reaches our shores.”

The FY 2022 budget also would support additional preparedness activities across HHS, including basic and applied research at the National Institutes of Health to better understand and treat infectious diseases, and activities within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to advance regulatory science, support efficient and effective review of new medical countermeasure products, and apply lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This budget request begins to address the critical needs to improve the public health system for America,” said CDC’s Walensky. 

Congress will consider President Biden’s request as it begins to draft appropriations bills for FY 2022.