Federal Health Programs to Get 10.3% Healthier in 1999

With a massive infusion of money for medical research, the new budget gives the government’s health and human services programs their largest spending boost in seven years. Head Start, AIDS drugs and the fight against bioterrorism all get increases.

Overall, the Health and Human Services Department will have about $40 billion to spend in 1999, up 10.3% from 1998. That’s $1.3 billion more than Clinton requested.

The biggest winner was medical research at the National Institutes of Health, which accounts for $2 billion of the increased money. Research has been a popular cause on Capitol Hill, even among conservative Republicans generally opposed to big government spending.

“We think that [NIH] is the crown jewel in the federal government. In fact it may be the only jewel in the federal government,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

The NIH budget will soar from $13.6 billion in 1998 to $15.6 billion in 1999, a 14.7% increase.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will get an extra $187 million to help local health departments strengthen operations. That’s $71 million more than Clinton sought.

The CDC will also see $161 million, $50 million more than the administration requested, for its effort to prepare for the danger of bioterrorism.

There will be a 61% boost in the program that helps low-income AIDS patients pay for expensive, powerful drugs.

While the House wanted no increase for Head Start, the final deal lifts the program for poor preschoolers by $313 million.