House Committee Advances Fiscal Year 2027 Health Funding Bill

Each year, Congress must pass funding bills to keep the government running and fund federal agencies. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which invests in a number of ACOG funding priorities, while cutting others, and includes concerning provisions that would limit patient access to care.

The House bill includes:

• A $20.276 million increase for Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, including a $9 million increase for Special Projects of Regional and National Significance
• A $2 million increase for the CDC Safe Motherhood portfolio, which supports state maternal mortality review committees and perinatal quality collaboratives, rejecting the administration’s proposal for total elimination of the program
• A $45 million increase for Public Health Data Modernization
• A $100 million increase for the National Institutes of Health
• Flat funding for the NIH IMPROVE Initiative, which supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal mortality and improve maternal health outcomes
• A $3 million increase for the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health
• Flat funding for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• A $2 million increase for CDC’s Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network
• A $3.1 million increase for National Health Service Corps
• A $5 million increase for the Office of Research on Women’s Health

Notably, the House rejected the administration’s proposal in the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget request to restructure HHS and cut NIH funding. However, the House’s bill includes steep cuts to CDC and threatens research for maternal health, telehealth, and patient safety in hospitals and health clinics, by eliminating funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and canceling funds from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund.

The bill also threatens deep cuts to or the complete elimination of funding for key ACOG priorities, such as Title X family planning, Healthy Start, preventive health and health services, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, domestic and global HIV prevention and research, and gun violence prevention research. The bill also includes harmful policy riders that would threaten DEI initiatives, cut funding for operating ACA health insurance plans, further restrict access to abortion care, and interfere in residency education.

This is the first step in a lengthy process, and the Senate has not yet considered its HHS funding bill. As Congress moves through the process, ACOG is continuing its advocacy to highlight the value of priority health initiatives and research efforts and urge rejections of harmful riders.

Stay up-to-date on opportunities to engage with your legislators on this and other ACOG priorities in ACOG Rounds and ACOG’s Action Center.