Health and Life Science: Stimulus Bill Information
The stimulus bill intends to provide additional federal assistance to states for Medicaid. The bill also provides a subsidy for COBRA benefits for recently unemployed individuals. Other big recipients include the National Institute of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Indiana Health Service, and the health information technology exchange programs.
Medicaid Coverage and COBRA: $112 billion in additional funding will provide temporary increases in Federal Medicaid contributions for states, including additional DSH allocations. Also provides a subsidy for COBRA benefits for recently unemployed individuals.
National Institute of Health (NIH) and Department of Health and Human Services: $15 billion in additional funding for construction projects, acquiring scientific equipment, encouraging education and workforce growth, and conducting medical research.
Health Information Technology: $19 billion of incentive payments intended to support the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act for the development of health information technology and to provide monetary incentives to spur the adoption of electronic health records. It also revises existing health information privacy protections in significant ways.
National Science Foundation: $3 billion in additional funding earmarked to support research and construction projects.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: $700 million in additional funding to be used for comparative effectiveness research.
Defense Health Program: $400 million in additional funding to be used to improve and repair military medical centers.
