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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Summary of Health Provisions

On February 13, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). President Obama signed the bill into law on February 17.

Included in the package was an investment in the nation's healthcare system, in an attempt to improve the quality and lower the cost of healthcare. Following is a summary of the healthcare provisions.

Primary Care Training Programs: $500 million is appropriated for the purpose of primary care training. Of this, $300 million goes to the National Health Service Corps. The remaining money is to be divided amongst various specified Titles VII and VIII programs, including the primary care medicine and dentistry cluster. The funding allocations are largely at the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). CAFM will be vigorously working with HRSA to ensure that the Title VII primary care training programs receive an appropriate portion of the funding.

Comparative Effectiveness Research: $1.1 billion is appropriated to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for comparative effectiveness research. This includes a transfer of funds to the National Institutes of Health, which also conduct similar research. $300 million goes AHRQ. $400 million is transferred to NIH. The remaining $400 million is transferred to the office of the HHS Secretary.

Health Information Technology: $19 billion is appropriated to jump start the adoption of computerized medical records. The aim is to lower costs and improve outcomes by limiting errors and duplicative care.

National Institutes of Health (NIH): $10 billion is appropriated to NIH. A large portion of the appropriations go towards capital improvements of research centers and the NIH headquarters building. The remaining funding goes into the general account of NIH.

Community Health Centers: $2 billion is appropriated to community health centers. $1.5 billion of these appropriated monies are for capital improvements of facilities.

Prevention and Wellness: $1 billion is appropriated to fight preventable, chronic diseases. Of the approriated amount, $300 million goes to the Centers for Disease Control for immunization programs.

Indian Health Services: $500 million is appropriated to modernize aging hospitals and clinics in rural, underserved areas.

Related Resources:

Letters sent by CAFM:

January 23rd Letter : Sent to Chairmen and Ranking Members of various House committees, thanking them for the inclusion of health provisions.

January 26th Letter: Sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, urging them to reconsider their position on the House provision regarding primary care training funding.

February 11th Letter: Sent to House and Senate Leadership and Conference Committee members, urging them to adopt the House-passed provisions affecting primary care training.

March 2 Letter : In conjunction with AAFP, this letter was sent to HRSA. It urges them to use the recovery money to double the Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry Cluster. This action is not mandated by the bill, but it would be consistent with the House Report that accompanied the bill.

CARM also sent the following Action Alerts:

February 1: Sent to all members, urging them to call their Senators' offices. The "ask" was for Senators to change their version of the bill to include the primary care training money that was contained in the House version.
February 10: Sent to members that are represented by leadership and chairmen and ranking members of select committees in both chambers. The "ask" was for the Conference to adopt the House provision on primary care training.