White House Proposes 12.5% Cut to HHS Budget, Major Reductions to NIH and CDC

Key Points

• HHS discretionary budget proposed at $111.1 billion, a 12.5% cut from current levels
• NIH would face approximately 40% funding reduction, CDC would lose about half its funding
• New Administration for a Healthy America proposed with $14 billion in funding
• 340B Drug Pricing Program would move from HRSA to CMS
• Administration claims $5 billion in savings from eliminating DEI programs and 'radical nonprofits'

Full Details

The White House's fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, released Friday, seeks $111.1 billion in discretionary funding for the Health and Human Services Department, representing a 12.5% cut from current levels. The most severe cuts target the National Institutes of Health, which would see approximately a 40% reduction in funding, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which would lose about half its funding. The budget also proposes creating a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America with $14 billion in discretionary funding, while moving the 340B Drug Pricing Program under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The administration claims the reorganization would generate $5 billion in savings by eliminating programs that 'promote radicalized DEI ideologies' or support organizations not aligned with administration policies. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz stated that new transparency measures would help identify hospice providers that misuse Medicare dollars.