ARN Health Policy Digest - July 2023

We are pleased to present the July issue of the ARN Health Policy Digest. This member benefit provides updates on health policy and legislative and regulatory developments that may be of interest to rehabilitation nurses. 

HELP Chairman Sanders Introduces Legislation to Address Nursing Workforce

On July 19, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released the text of his legislation to address workforce shortages, the Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act. The bill will invest $20 billion each year over a five-year period to expand community health centers and support recruitment, training, and retention of primary care doctors, mental health providers, nurses, dentists, and home health care workers. Among the myriad provisions included in this bill, here's a few takeaways:

• Creates a grant program to expand associate degree nursing programs.
• Reauthorizes and funds the Nurse Faculty Loan Program at $57 million per year over five years, for a total investment of $285 million.
• Reauthorizes and expands the Nurse Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program to $277.8 million per year from FY 2024 through FY 2028, for a total of $1.4 billion over five years.
• Funds the Family Nurse Practitioner Training Program from FY 2024 through FY 2028 at $50 million per year for a total of $250 million over five years.
• Creates a $1 billion fund for grants to schools of nursing to increase the number of faculty and students and to enhance and modernize nursing programs to support nurse education in underserved areas.
• Provides $35 million per year from FY 2024 through FY 2028, for a total of $175 million over five years, to fund midwifery and nurse-midwifery education programs to address the maternity care provider shortage.
• Creates a fund to provide $100 million per year from FY 2024 through FY 2028, for a total of $500 million over five years, for the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide awards to incentivize nurses who have left clinical nursing to return to the workforce.

The HELP Committee will mark up the legislation soon and we will report back with more information. In the meantime, the bill text and summary are available for review.

Updates on FY 2024 Appropriations

On July 13, the House Appropriations Committee released its fiscal year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill in advance of the subcommittee markup. As expected, the legislation includes significant cuts to health programs including cutting funding for the National Institutes of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration. More details about cuts to ARN's priority health programs will be available when the accompanying report is released, which we expect will happen prior to a yet to be scheduled full committee markup.

We had been anticipating these deep cuts to health programs in the House, and these numbers represent the low water mark for these programs. The Senate is expected to markup their Labor-HHS bill on July 27 and are expected to markup to the budget cap level set in the debt ceiling agreement and to offset some of those cuts by providing emergency funding. Once the Senate bill and report are available, we will have a better understanding of the state of funding for ARN's priorities. In the meantime, we encourage ARN members to take action and urge your members of Congress to support robust funding for the nursing workforce and nursing and rehabilitation research.

Stalemate over NIH Director appointment

Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is delaying the confirmation hearing for Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, President Biden's nominee for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), until the Biden administration promises more drug pricing reform. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is also withholding support for Bertagnolli unless she signs a pledge not to join pharmaceutical company boards after her tenure. Public health advocates are concerned that the standoff between Sanders and the White House may prevent an uncontroversial candidate from leading the NIH, which has been without a permanent director since December 2021. The delay is causing frustration among scientists and advocates who believe the NIH needs a confirmed director to address ongoing issues and controversies.

Notices and Funding Opportunities

• Improving Methods for Conducting Research with People with Cognitive Disabilities in Virtual Environments - Grant ID: 346808; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPGE-0060
• International Exploration of Rehabilitation Length of Stay Following Spinal Cord Injury -Grant ID: 346846; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPHF-0000
• Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Community Living and Participation Among People with Serious Mental Illness - Grant ID: 342554; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-RTCP-0023
• Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Aging Among Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses - Grant ID: 342610; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-RTHF-0000
• Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Community Living and Participation Among Transition Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions From Disadvantaged, Vulnerable, or Marginalized Backgrounds - Grant ID: 346785; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-RTCP-0050
• Promoting Positive Employment Outcomes Among People with Disabilities who are Experiencing Long-COVID - Grant ID: 348082; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPEM-0000
• Understanding the Experience and Outcomes of Students with Disabilities who have 504 Plans - Grant ID: 347717; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPGE-0061
• Scaling Up Evidence-Based Services to Promote Competitive Integrated Employment Among People with Disabilities - Grant ID: 346847; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPEM-0001
• Projects for Translating the Findings and Products of Disability and Rehabilitation Research and Development into Practice - Grant ID: 346809; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-DPKT-0060
• Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Disability in Rural Communities - Grant ID: 342555; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-RTCP-0027
• Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) Program: RERC on Rehabilitation Strategies, Techniques, and Interventions - Grant ID: 342600; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-REGE-0096
• Switzer Research Fellowships Program - Grant ID: 342605; Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2023-ACL-NIDILRR-SFGE-0000
• Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Addressing Organizational Factors to Prevent or Mitigate Nurse Burnout (NOT-NR-23-012)
• Notice of NINR Participation in RFA-NS-24-015, HEAL Initiative Partnerships to Advance Interdisciplinary (PAIN) Training in Clinical Pain Research: The HEAL PAIN Cohort Program (T90/R90 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)(NOT-NR-23-011)
• Notice of Participation of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in PAR-23-122, "Research With Activities Related to Diversity (ReWARD) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (NOT-NR-23-010)