President's FY 2005 Budget Sells Health Services Research Short, Says Coalition for Health Services Research 2/3/2004
From: Kari Root of AcademyHealth, 202-292-6721 WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 -- Following the release of President Bush's FY 2005 budget today, the Coalition for Health Services Research -- a group dedicated to promoting research to improve America's health care system -- expressed concern over the lack of increased support for the agencies that fund health services research, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). "In his State of the Union address less than two weeks ago, President Bush stressed the importance of ensuring patient safety, reducing health care costs, and expanding access to health coverage," says W. David Helms, Ph.D., president of the Coalition for Health Services Research and AcademyHealth president and CEO. "However, the president's budget doesn't provide the support needed to address these pressing problems through research." The AHRQ budget has remained relatively flat for the past several years, despite increased momentum across the country for the health care solutions that AHRQ research provides, including new cost-containment and quality approaches and initiatives to strengthen the public health system. In FY 2002, Congress appropriated $300 million to AHRQ. By FY 2004, that number had increased only nominally-to $304 million. For FY 2005, the President is proposing that the agency remain funded at $304 million for another year. The failure to increase funding for AHRQ is particularly disappointing given that, as part of the recent Medicare legislation, Congress is asking the agency to undertake $50 million in new research to study the comparative effectiveness and appropriateness of drug therapies. "This research is critical to public and private health care purchasers," says Dr. Helms. "It would also enable physicians to understand which option among existing treatments is the most effective." "At a time when the population is aging, health care costs are rapidly increasing, and we have ever more uninsured, we should be renewing, not reducing, our commitment to health services research," says Dr. Helms. ------ Established as the advocacy arm of AcademyHealth, the Coalition provides a unified voice for enhanced funding support for health services research. AcademyHealth is the professional home for health services researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, and a leading, non-partisan resource for the best in health research and policy. | |