Healthcare Issues Feature in White House Budget
The proposed White House Budget for 2023 has some key healthcare considerations the Biden administration has long wanted to address. Paramount among them is a five-year $81.7 billion investment in pandemic preparedness. The focus would be in research of vaccines and treatments for biological threats like COVID-19. Prevention and technology to combat new illnesses that might arise in the future are also targeted for increased funding.
Investment in research to combat cancer is also a high priority for President Biden who hopes to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% over the next 25 years. The Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which was implemented during the Obama Administration by then Vice-President Biden, is a coalition seeking vaccine-based immunotherapy treatments against cancer.
Mental health, suicide prevention, and reducing HIV/AIDs infections are also issues President Biden wishes to address in the 2023 budget. Funding would be allocated to bolster community clinics offering mental healthcare services and increase workers in the mental healthcare industry. Nearly $850 million would go to Health and Human Services to increase accessibility to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to decrease the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Funding would also be used to add more community providers for underserved populations.
