NAEVR Joins Medical Research Community in Opposing President Trumps Proposed Cut to Reimbursement for Facilities and Administrative Costs in NIH Grants
Legislative Update
August 21, 2017
Today, 109 organizationsincluding NAEVRwrote to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, MD, and Office of Management and Budget Director (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney to oppose the Administrations proposal to reduce reimbursement for Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs (also referred to as indirect costs) in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, per the detailed Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Trump budget issued on May 22. This proposed reduction in indirect cost reimbursement accounts for the majority of the $7.2 billion or 21 percent cut proposed by the President in FY2018 NIH funding.
Fortunately, on July 19, the House Appropriations Committee approved an FY2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) funding bill that increases NIH funding by $1.1 billion and includes a provision requiring the NIH to continue reimbursing grantee F&A costs in research. The Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to mark up its bill immediately after Congress returns from its recess, and several Senate leaders have already publicly expressed opposition to cuts to F&A reimbursement.
The Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities has prepared a fact sheet about F&A costs and the importance of their reimbursement in NIH grants.