The Effect of Deep Cuts to Public Health

Americans deserve a strong and resilient public health infrastructure that is adequately funded to protect and promote their health. Slashing federal programs for public health, biomedical research, and other health expenditures

Below, we have compiled facts about how deep cuts, whether through a year-long CR or the proposed cuts in the House appropriations bills, would devastate America’s public health infrastructure and reduce or eliminate services that are essential to safeguarding the health and well-being of our communities.

  • Non-defense discretionary spending accounts for only 14% of federal spending, but includes funding for vital public health, education, and housing programs.

  • Since 2010, NDD spending has been declining as a share of the economy, and in 2019, it reached a record low of 3.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to official data going back to 1962.

  • Under proposed cuts by House Republicans, the Department of Health and Human Services would see a 22% cut which would mean:

    • 29,000 people would be denied treatment and recovery service for opioid use disorder.

    • NIH would be unable to fund 5,000 grant opportunities, slowing progress in research for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, mental illness, and more.

    • Potentially slash funding for Community Health Centers by over $400 million, impacting over 30 million people who rely on them for diagnosis and treatment services.

AHRQ

  • Proposed cuts in House Republican’s FY24 Labor-H bill would completely eliminate AHRQ which produces evidence to make healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable.

CDC

  • A full year CR would dramatically reduce the nation’s preparedness for disease outbreaks and cut disease prevention efforts at the state and federal level.

  • Under a Labor-H cap, some offices and programs at the CDC would be entirely eliminated, such as the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health which protects youth from tabacco use, including e-cigarettes, and the CDC’s Climate and Health program which works with states to plan and mitigate health risks associated with extreme weather events.

NIH

  • If the FY24 House Labor-H bill were enacted, NIH would receive a $3.8 billion cut (equivalent to 8%) which would affect the agency’s ability to continue research for lifesaving cures and therapies.

  • Included in the FY24 proposed cuts by House Republicans is a 23% cut to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

SAMHSA

  • The House FY24 bill cuts $200 million from SAMHSA, which would not allow them to adequately respond to the ongoing opioid and fentanyl epidemic that killed more than 106,000 people in the U.S. in 2021.