Earlier today the White House issued the Administration’s first full budget proposal for
all federal programs for FY 2018. In the coming weeks AMCHP will issue more detailed
summaries of proposed funding levels for all critical MCH programs but we wanted to
quickly share this overview of funding for programs within the Maternal and Child Health
Bureau and statement from AMCHP:
From the President’s Budget Proposal:
"Maternal and Child Health: The FY 2018 Budget prioritizes direct health care
services and provides States and communities the flexibility to meet local needs. The
request increases the funding that States receive through the Maternal and Child Health
Block Grant to $667 million, which is an increase of $30 million above the FY 2017
Continuing Resolution. This funding supports services to more than half of the pregnant
women and nearly one-third of all infants and children in the country. The additional
funding will support greater State investment to improve the health of all mothers,
children, and adolescents, particularly those in low-income families.
The FY 2018 Budget also provides $128 million for the Healthy Start Program, which is
a $10 million increase above the FY 2017 Continuing Resolution. The Healthy Start
Program connects individuals with services that can reduce infant mortality and improve
perinatal outcomes while allowing grantees to tailor services according to community
need. In prioritizing the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and Healthy Start, the
Budget achieves a savings of $103 million by discontinuing smaller maternal and child
health programs [including Sickle Cell Demonstration Program ($4 million), Autism and
Other Developmental Disorders ($47 million), Heritable Disorders ($14 million),
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening ($18 million), and EMS for Children ($20
million)]. States may continue to support these activities with their Maternal and Child
Health Block Grant awards.” Source: Page 23 of HHS Budget in Brief
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy2018-budget-in-brief.pdf
Full details for the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau programs are available
beginning on page 144 of the HRSA Budget Justification here, and the full CDC Budget
Justification is here.
In the coming months, AMCHP will continue to lead advocacy efforts to turn this
proposed increase into reality and will work in coalition with our many partners to
oppose the cuts proposed today. In addition, Lori Freeman, Chief Executive Officer of
the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, released the following statement
in response to the Administration’s budget proposal issued earlier today:
Statement from the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs on the
Administration’s Budget Proposal
“The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs is gratified to see the president's
budget include proposed increases for critical maternal and child health programs,
including $25.3 million* for the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant
and $10 million for the Healthy Start Program. We are encouraged to see the budget
proposal further the national dialogue on the need for paid parental leave policies and
look forward to learning additional details. We are also gravely concerned that other
reductions proposed in the budget would make it impossible to maintain services and
would threaten recent progress improving the health of women, children and families.
State maternal and child health programs are successfully demonstrating results by
embracing evidence-based interventions and fostering state and local flexibility. They
have contributed to a 15 percent decline in our nation's infant mortality rate over the
past decade and prove that public health and prevention works.
AMCHP is deeply concerned proposals to cut $103 million for critical services like
Newborn Screening, Sickle Cell, Autism and Other Developmental Disorders, Universal
Newborn Hearing Screening, and Emergency Medical Services for Children will greatly
reduce our capacity to detect disease early and promptly connect families with special
health care needs to treatment. This not only saves money but also prevents suffering.
Cuts in funding to newborn metabolic and hearing screening will require states to either
reduce screening initiatives - resulting in missed diagnoses or worse outcomes because
of late detection - or continue these services by passing on costs to other payers.
Among the concerning cuts proposed for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), it defies logic to propose cutting the CDC's Center for Birth
Defects by $37.5 million at the precise time the mosquito-borne Zika virus is putting
babies at increased risk for devastating birth defects. Additionally, proposing to cut $70
million from the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which
addresses the leading cause of death for children and young adults, moves in the wrong
direction and guarantees our nation will pay more due to lost prevention
opportunities. Additionally, proposing the elimination of the $101 million evidencebased Teen Pregnancy Prevention at a time of historic progress is counter-productive.
AMCHP recognizes that this is the first step in a long process to turn proposals into
law. We urge Congress to embrace the positive prioritization this budget makes for
MCH, while rejecting the harshest cuts that would leave states worse off and risk
reversing hard-won progress. States have shown they can lead the way to deliver
results that improve birth outcomes and family health. While this budget proposed
some positive steps, the net reductions to our public health system cannot stand and
should be rejected.”
* While the president’s budget proposal indicates a $30 million proposed increase for
the Title V MCH Block Grant, this does not take into account the $3.5 million increase
recently included for FY 2017 in the Omnibus Spending Bill.