Here is an update on the Fiscal Year Spending Plan. This information is from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Feb. 10th Advocacy Update Issue.
"Congress Finalizes FY12 Budget; Work Begins on FY13 Spending Plan"
"Late last year Congress finalized the fiscal year 2012 federal budget, averting a threatened government shutdown had the budget process not been completed by the end of the year. The finalized spending bill, while it does not fully address the cancer community's requests, represents a major accomplishment for cancer advocates.
At the start of the FY12 budget process, cancer patients, advocates and researchers faced the prospect of draconian cuts to cancer research and prevention programs, as well as the elimination or consolidation of cancer control programs at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). However, thanks in part to the actions of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) advocates, cancer research funding was increased and the CDC's cancer programs were largely preserved.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) received a $300 million, or 1 percent, budget increase over FY11, bringing the FY12 funding level to $30.698 billion for the world's largest funder of cancer research. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is housed under the NIH, received $5.081 billion in the bill; a $23 million, or 0.5 percent, increase over last year's budget.
The CDC's cancer programs were under attack in budget talks all year. Unfortunately, the CDC's Blood Cancer Education Program was a casualty of those attacks and was eliminated from the federal budget. Every LLS chapter across the nation had benefitted from The Blood Cancer Education Program's funding in the form of grants to conduct education and support programs for blood cancer patients, especially the underserved. LLS will seek the restoration of this important program in FY13.
Funding for additional programs of interest for cancer advocates includes: the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) received $276 million, a $67 million increase (32 percent) over FY 2011 and the Health Resources Services Administration's (HRSA) Title VIII nursing programs received $232.287 million in the FY 2012 bill, a $10 million decrease (4 percent) from FY 2011. Unfortunately, funding for the Patient Navigator Program was also eliminated.
It is also important to note that the bill eliminates the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and establishes the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). LLS has championed the establishment and funding of the NCATS program, which seeks to speed the translation of basic scientific discoveries to real world applications through public-private research partnerships.
Focus on the federal budget has already shifted to the FY13 spending bills, where the greater cancer community will once again advocate for a robust increase in funding for the NIH and NCI, among other critical programs. LLS and One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC), a broad coalition of cancer-related organizations representing millions of Americans, will work to ensure that the Administration and Congress make funding for cancer research and related programs a priority in FY 2013.
Specifically, OVAC is making the following requests important to LLS's patient base in the FY13 budget:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
$32.7 billion (6.5% increase)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
$5.3 billion (5.5% increase)
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
$238 million
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program: $50 million
National Program of Cancer Registries: $65 million
Geraldine Ferraro Blood Cancer Program: $6 million
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Patient Navigator Program: $10 million
Title VIII Nursing Programs: To Be Determined
Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Secretary
Childhood Cancer Research and Awareness: $30 million
Congress' past support for cancer research and control programs has led to an overall reduction in cancer incidence and mortality. It is therefore critical that the nation's commitment to cancer research funding be maintained. Federal support for research must be sustained at a level that will allow progress to continue. LLS and OVAC will advocate that Congress increase cancer research funding in FY13 at levels that will allow existing and new research projects to be funded, support services to be provided, and survivorship services increased; and the help of LLS's advocates will be critical in this pursuit."