In This Section
Congress passes 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act
December 29, 2022
On December 23, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2617, the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (also referred to as the Omnibus package) by a vote of 225-201-1. The 4,155 page bill includes $1.7 trillion to fund the government through September 30, 2023. The U.S. Senate approved the legislation earlier in the week by a vote of 68-29. The legislation now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
SNMMI Advocacy along with several coalition organizations advocated extensively for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) cuts to be addressed in the legislation and we are pleased to see that a 2.5% increase was included, as well as, a 4% PAY-GO waiver to offset some of the cuts providers are facing in 2023. The legislation also includes a 1.25% increase to the 2024 MPFS. Thank you to all of our members that participated in our grassroots call to action. We would have liked to see the full 4.42% increase included in the package, as providers are still facing a 2% cut in January 2023. We will continue to advocate around this issue and to press for more permanent solutions in the new Congress.
Other notable provisions-- the Omnibus package also includes CMS report language, a two-year extension of telehealth flexibilities and increases across several healthcare programs.
- Report language included in the legislation directs CMS to review the utilization of Alzheimer's Disease diagnostics and imaging to evaluate whether the current payment bundle for advance radiopharmaceuticals in the hospital outpatient setting is cost prohibitive, limiting patient access to care and treatments.
- A provision to extend telehealth flexibilities until December 31, 2024—removing geographical requirements and expanding originating sites
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is funded at $120.7 billion, an increase of $9.9 billion.
- $47.5 billion allocated to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a 5.6 percent increase to invest in new therapies and diagnostics
- $7.3 billion for the National Cancer Institute, $216 million towards the Cancer Moonshot initiative
- $9.2 billion allocated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an increase of $760 million
- $1.5 billion allocated to ARPA-H
- $950 million allocated to BARDA
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funds include $1.9 billion towards medical research, with $130 million allocated to peer reviewed cancer research and $150 million towards peer-reviewed breast cancer research.
To view the full bill text, you can do so here.