On Monday, March 28, 2022, President Biden released his proposed fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget. The president’s budget includes $5.8 trillion in mandatory and discretionary spending. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget proposes $127.3 billion in discretionary budget authority and $1.7 trillion in mandatory funding, representing a 1.4% increase in spending compared to FY 2022 levels. The budget’s proposals focus on pandemic preparedness, mental health and health equity.
The proposed budget would heavily invest in efforts to mitigate COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics, including $81.7 in mandatory funding over five years across multiple agencies. The budget would fund new programs to expand vaccine access for adults and consolidates vaccine coverage under Medicare Part B. It would also make investments in pandemic preparedness across many agencies, including modernizing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data collection and investing in medical countermeasures, infectious disease research and the National Strategic Stockpile.
