On June 26, 2024, the House Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee spending bill, which would allocate $185.8 billion in discretionary funding. This represents an 11 percent reduction from the previous year’s spending level and a 15 percent decrease from President Biden’s budget request. Notably, the spending bill allocates approximately $1.3 billion for health workforce development, including $70 million in grants to expand and support graduate medical education for physicians and dentists. The Subcommittee advanced the bill in a markup on June 27, 2024, and the Full Committee is marking up the legislation on July 10, 2024. 
 
The House Appropriations Committee also released their appropriations report, which serves as an explanation of the FY 2025 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. Relevant provisions related to oral health include:

• $43,673,000 for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Oral Health Training program, $1 million above the FY 2024 enacted level and the FY 2025 budget request;
• $300,000 for HRSA to continue the development of an oral health awareness and education campaign, the same funding level as FY 2024;
• $22,250,000 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Oral Health, $2 million above the FY 2024 enacted level;
• $250,000 within the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS), the same funding as the FY 2024 enacted level; and
• The Committee urges HRSA to give the Chief Dental Officer (CDO) more authority and resources to better oversee and lead oral health dental programs and initiatives across the agency.

A press release with more information is available here.
The appropriations bill text is available here.
The appropriations report is available here.
 
Impact on General Dentistry: The AGD applauds the Committee’s proposed increase in funding levels for the Oral Health Training program and CDC’s Division of Oral Health. The AGD will continue to advocate for increased funding for oral health literacy programs and other key priorities. The AGD also supports strong funding for health care workforce development programs that increase access to oral health care. The AGD will continue monitoring the HHS budget process and updating members as it progresses.