Primary Care Appropriations — I Street Advocates

I Street Advocates’ understanding of the appropriations process helped to secure historic new federal funding for important clinical primary health care research.

The Council for Academic Family Medicine has been a long-term client of I Street Advocates. As the primary Federal agency specifically charged with conducting and supporting primary care research, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has built a comprehensive portfolio of primary care research. We have worked to establish and secure funding for the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research at AHRQ.

Working with our client, we built a case through grassroots efforts, legislative advocacy, and leveraging key studies such as a 2020 RAND report on primary care. In fiscal year (FY) 2022, the House Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee committed to the full $5 million in funding for the Center. This was a significant breakthrough, signaling a turning point. Ultimately, we secured $2 million in funding for the Center. In FY 2023, both the House and Senate appropriators funded the Center at $5 million in their individual bills; the final larger funding agreement again funded the Center at $2 million.

Much of our success started with an extensive and well-structured grassroots advocacy campaign. We leveraged that grassroots support to identify and nurture champions among the Appropriators in both the House and the Senate. One of the most critical aspects of our strategy was educating the Committee staff about clinical primary care including AHRQ’s distinct role in supporting such care. We convened a 2020 briefing with key stakeholders, including representatives from RAND who helped develop their primary care report. Highlighting the fact that ARHQ is the center for clinical primary care research underscored the importance of our funding effort.