The Endocrine Society is committed to advocating for increases in the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our Hill days, advocacy campaigns, and meetings with appropriators have contributed to increases in the NIH budget over the past seven years. Continued investment in the NIH is critical to further our understanding of endocrine disorders such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and infertility, among many diseases affecting millions of Americans. Therefore, the Endocrine Society is advocating for Congress to provide at least $50 billion for the NIH base budget in fiscal year (FY) 2023, which is a 7.9% increase from FY 2022 levels.
Unfortunately, Congress was not able to complete appropriations for FY 2023 by the September 30 deadline this year. Instead, it passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) through December 16. As of this posting [Nov. 29], there was still no agreement on final appropriations, and we are concerned that the CR could be extended further. While a CR averts a government shutdown, it continues to fund the NIH only at last year’s funding levels and does not account for substantial increases in biomedical research inflation.
Continued investment in the NIH is critical to further our understanding of endocrine disorders such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and infertility, among many diseases affecting millions of Americans.
With a long list of legislative goals for members of Congress to complete during the “lame duck” session, we have been working hard to keep appropriations prioritized and prevent an extended CR. In November, the Endocrine Society sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to finalize a spending package for FY 2023 before the CR expires on December 16. In addition to an increase in the NIH budget, we recommended that any funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) supplement, and not supplant, funding for the NIH. While complementary, the NIH and ARPA-H have distinct and critical missions and should therefore be budgeted separately.
The most powerful form of advocacy, however, comes from you. Our policymakers want to hear what is important to their constituents, which is why we have launched an online advocacy campaign that we encourage our U.S.-based members to participate in. With your help, we can keep appropriations at the top of the legislative agenda and secure much-needed funding for life-saving endocrine research. Please visit www.endocrine.org/takeaction to join our campaign today!
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