U.S. President Donald Trump on February 10 released a proposed budget for 2021 that includes an 8% cut in funding to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), proposing a 2021 budget of $38 billion, compared with the $41.4 billion the agency has had in 2020.
The NIH cuts are just one line item in the president's proposed $4.8 trillion federal budget for the coming year. It proposes several cuts to NIH institutes, including the following:
| Proposed 2021 U.S. budget for select federal agencies | ||
| 2020 budget | 2021 proposed budget | |
| National Cancer Institute | $6.2 billion | $5.7 billion |
| National Human Genome Research Institute | $606.3 million | $550.1 million |
| National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering | 403.6 million | $368.1 million |
| National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | $2.3 billion | $2.1 billion |
| National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences | $832.9 million | $787.7 million |
The proposed budget also includes cuts to programs in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The budget could have an impact on radiology, according to the American College of Radiology (ACR), which has begun its review of the document, Cynthia Moran, ACR executive vice president of health policy and government relations, told AuntMinnie.com via email.
"There are things in the document that could impact radiology -- including a move to site-neutral payments and changes to graduate medical education funding," Moran said. "For any president, the proposed budget is just a layout of their policy priorities. Much of the content would require Congressional approval to achieve. As this is an election year, many of the policies are unlikely to see action until and unless there is a second term for this administration."
