President Joe Biden’s 2024 budget proposal would institute several pandemic preparedness measures and expand patient access to health insurance, according to the White House. The budget blueprint also calls for additional spending to invest in health care workforce programs to address shortages reported around the country.

Each year the president is required to submit a budget to Congress. The budget document lists the administration’s priorities, but Congress will ultimately determine how funds are appropriated and which programs get enacted into law.

Prepares for Future Pandemics

The proposed budget includes $20 billion in mandatory funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) public health agencies in support of the Administration’s pandemic prevention and preparedness and biodefense priorities as outlined in the 2021 American Pandemic Preparedness including:

• Transforming Our Capabilities Plan
• 2022 National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats
• Enhancing pandemic preparedness
• Achieving global health security

The proposed budget also includes $400 million in new discretionary resources within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to prepare for pandemics and biological threats, as well as key discretionary investments for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the Strategic National Stockpile to support advanced development and procurement of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic capabilities against known and unknown high priority threats.

Expanding Access to Health Insurance

The administration’s budget also calls for premium cuts to purchase health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through expanded premium tax credits. In addition, the proposed budget would provide Medicaid-like coverage to individuals in states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the ACA, paired with financial incentives for states to maintain their existing expansions.

Workforce Provisions

The proposed budget would allow $966 million in 2024 to expand the National Health Service Corps, which provides loan repayment and scholarships to health care professionals in exchange for practicing in underserved areas. The proposed budget would allow $350 million to expand programs that train and support the nursing workforce, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, which trains residents in community-based health care clinics in rural and high-need areas.