More
than
two
dozen
Democratic
senators
called
on
HHS
Secretary
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
to
rescind
recent
grant
cancellations
by
the
Agency
for
Healthcare
Research
and
Quality
(AHRQ).
“We
write
to
express
our
profound
concern
and
unequivocal
opposition
to
the
recent
mass
cancellations
of
lifesaving
health
research
grants”
from
AHRQ,
and
the
“year-long
refusal
to
faithfully
execute”
the
fiscal
year
2025
and
fiscal
year
2026
appropriations
laws,
wrote
Sens.
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-Conn.)
and
Tammy
Baldwin
(D-Wis.),
along
with
28
of
their
colleagues,
in
a
letter
to
Kennedy.
“This
unprecedented
action,
which
has
led
to
the
disruption
of
nearly
200
different
research
programs
across
nearly
30
states,
undermines
decades
of
taxpayer
investments
to
improve
healthcare
delivery,
patient
safety,
and
health
outcomes
for
all
Americans,”
they
added.
“We
demand
that
you
immediately
rescind
these
cancellations
and
ensure
that
the
funding
Congress
appropriates
to
AHRQ
is
invested
in
health
research
in
accordance
with
the
law.”
Grant
termination
letters
previously
shared
with
MedPage
Today
and
posted
online
noted
that
AHRQ
was
“adjusting
its
discretionary
health
services
research
award
portfolio
in
order
to
better
prioritize
agency
resources.”
In
many
cases,
funding
had
been
stalled
and
researchers
had
not
been
informed
about
the
status
of
their
grants
for
a
long
period
of
time
prior
to
receiving
the
notices.
A
new
online
tool
from
nonprofit
AcademyHealth,
which
has
been
tracking
the
cancellations,
shows
that
more
than
100
grants
worth
over
$250
million
have
been
cancelled.
Aaron
Carroll,
MD,
MS,
president
and
CEO
of
AcademyHealth,
told
MedPage
Today
late
last
month
that
the
numbers
were
only
expected
to
rise.
AHRQ
“just
cancelled
a
quarter
of
a
billion
dollars
worth
of
grants,
which
are
all
focused
on
things
Americans
care
about,”
he
noted.
In
their
letter
to
Kennedy,
the
senators
highlighted
just
a
few
of
the
many
affected
research
projects,
including:
-
Training
rural
healthcare
workers
to
better
respond
to
maternal
medical
emergencies
(Connecticut) -
Improving
healthcare
delivery
systems
for
patients
to
access
home
dialysis
(New
York) -
Improving
autism
screening,
diagnosis,
and
services
among
Black
children
(North
Carolina) -
Testing
the
use
of
artificial
intelligence
to
improve
the
experience
of
hospitalized
children
and
their
families
(Wisconsin)
“This
is
just
a
fraction
of
the
important
work
that
has
been
permanently
discontinued,
despite
years
of
work
and
millions
of
taxpayer
dollars
that
were
invested
to
advance
our
understanding
of
effective
healthcare
delivery,”
the
senators
wrote.
They
also
doubled
down
on
their
assertion
that
the
AHRQ
grant
cancellations
are
not
in
line
with
Congressional
appropriations.
Despite
$345
million
appropriated
for
AHRQ,
recent
reporting
has
indicated
that
the
agency
has
spent
less
than
$15
million
on
grants
and
hasn’t
recently
issued
a
single
new
one.
“We
want
to
be
clear:
Democrats
and
Republicans
did
not
work
together
to
appropriate
funds
for
AHRQ
as
a
gentle
suggestion
for
the
department
to
follow
at
their
discretion
or
leisure,”
the
senators
noted.
“We
provided
this
money
with
the
explicit
instruction
that
the
department
faithfully
support
lifesaving
research
to
improve
access
and
health
outcomes
for
Americans.”
“We
did
not
appropriate
these
funds
so
that
money
could
remain
unspent
while
Americans
suffer
and
our
healthcare
system
struggles,”
they
argued.
“AHRQ
has
saved
our
country
billions
of
dollars
in
healthcare
costs
and
improved
patient
safety.
Abandoning
this
work
is
antithetical
to
the
mission
of
the
department.”
Blumenthal,
Baldwin,
and
their
colleagues
have
not
yet
received
a
response
to
their
letter,
but
have
requested
one
by
Aug.
25.
HHS
did
not
immediately
respond
to
a
request
for
comment.
Please
enable
JavaScript
to
view
the