Senate Approps Panel Okays Spending Hikes For Opioids, NIH -- No New ACA Funding

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2018 HHS funding bill on Wednesday (Sept. 6) that includes $79.4 billion in discretionary funding for the department -- a $1.7 billion increase from 2017, with large funding increases for the National Institutes of Health and opioid abuse treatment, but no new funding for implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The agreement would also defund the ACA's Independent Payment Advisory Board, and includes a provision requiring the Trump administration to operate the...