Funding increases outlined in President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal would bolster the public health system’s ability to combat the many urgent challenges facing the nation, including public health emergencies and infectious and chronic disease threats, according to the American Public Health Association.

The president’s proposed budget provides $144.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Health and Human Services. Within the total, the proposal allocates nearly $11.6 billion in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly $2.4 billion more than fiscal year 2023. The proposed budget also recommends a discretionary funding level of $9.205 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration.

“The administration’s proposed FY 2024 budget rightly continues its focus on the critical need to strengthen the nation’s public health infrastructure, workforce and pandemic preparedness capabilities,” said APHA Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD. “Once again we laud the administration’s continued focus on critical public health priorities and look forward to working with them and all members of Congress to support these long overdue investments.”

The president’s proposed budget provides significantly increased funding for a number of critical public health priorities, including:

• $110 million in funding for CDC’s Climate and Health Program, an increase of $100 million over FY 2023 and an additional $25 million for climate and health research at the National Institutes of Health;
• $340 million for CDC’s ongoing Data Modernization Initiative, an increase of $165 million over FY 2023;
• $80 million for CDC’s Suicide Prevention Program, a $50 million increase, to allow CDC to fund all 50 states, D.C. and several tribal and territorial grantees;
• $600 million for CDC to support core public health infrastructure activities at the state, tribal, local and territorial levels, an increase of $250 million;
• $250 million for CDC’s Community Violence Intervention Initiative;
• $1.818 billion for community health centers, an increase of $80 million over FY 2023;
• $176 million for HRSA’s National Health Service Corps, an increase of $50 million over FY 2023;
• $937 million for HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, an increase of $122 million over FY 2023;
• $512 million for the Title X Family Planning Program, a long-awaited increase of $226 million over FY 2023 after years of flat funding;
• $2.696 billion for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program and an additional $125 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic program, putting that program’s total at $290 million;
• $20 billion in new mandatory funding across HHS for activities aimed at future pandemic preparedness and response;
• A new mandatory adult vaccine program at CDC to provide uninsured adults with access to routine vaccines and vaccines related to future outbreaks as recommended by experts; and
• The inclusion of a new program modeled after Medicaid to provide health insurance coverage to individuals living in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

“We are grateful to President Biden for these and other proposed funding increases and for the important new initiatives outlined in the budget proposal that would undoubtedly improve the public’s health. We look forward to working with the administration and Congress to enact the strongest possible funding for all public health programs in FY 2024,” Benjamin said.

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The American Public Health Association champions the health of all people and all communities. We are the only organization that combines a 150-year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.