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NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016
Judith A. Johnson
Specialist in Biomedical Policy
March 6, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43341
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NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016
Contents
NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016 ...................................................................................................... 1
Figures
Figure 1. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding, FY1994-FY2016 ...................................... 3
Tables
Table 1. NIH Funding, FY1994–FY2016 ........................................................................................ 4
Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 5
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NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016
NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal agency charged with conducting
and supporting biomedical and behavioral research. Its activities cover a wide range of basic,
clinical, and translational research, focused on particular diseases, areas of human health and
development, or more fundamental aspects of biomedical research. Its mission also includes
research training and health information collection and dissemination.1 About 83% of the NIH
budget funds extramural research through grants, contracts, and other awards.2 This funding
supports research performed by more than 300,000 non-federal scientists and technical personnel
who work at more than 2,500 universities, hospitals, medical schools, and other research
institutions around the country and abroad.3 About 11% of the agency’s budget supports
intramural research performed by NIH scientists and non-employee trainees in the NIH
laboratories and Clinical Center; the remaining 6% funds research management, support, and
facilities’ needs.4
Funding for NIH comes primarily from the annual Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS),
Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill, with an additional amount for Superfund-
related activities from the Interior/Environment appropriations bill. Those two bills provide NIH’s
discretionary budget authority.5 In addition, NIH receives mandatory funding of $150 million
annually that is provided in the Public Health Service (PHS) Act for a special program on type 1
diabetes research and funding from a PHS Act transfer. The total funding available for NIH
activities, taking account of add-ons and transfers, is known as the NIH program level.
Table 1 outlines NIH program level funding over the past 23 years. Between FY1994 and
FY1998, funding for NIH grew modestly from $11.0 billion to $13.7 billion in nominal terms.
Over the next five years, Congress doubled the NIH budget to $27.2 billion in FY2003. In each of
these years, the agency received annual funding increases of 14% to 16%. Since FY2003,
however, NIH funding has increased more gradually in nominal dollars. Funding peaked in
FY2010 before declining in FY2011 through FY2013 with small increases in subsequent years.6
These funding trends are illustrated in Figure 1 in both current and constant (i.e., inflation-
adjusted) 2012 dollars. The top half of Figure 1 illustrates NIH funding in current dollars (also
called nominal dollars) over the period of FY1994 through FY2016. Increases since FY2003 have
1 For further information on NIH, see CRS Report R41705, The National Institutes of Health (NIH): Background and
Congressional Issues, by Judith A. Johnson.
2 Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year 2016 Budget in Brief, Washington, DC, February 2, 2015, p.
49, http://www.hhs.gov/budget/fy2016/fy-2016-budget-in-brief.pdf.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 NIH received a total of $10.4 billion in supplemental, one-time FY2009 appropriations in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). ARRA funds were made available for obligation for two years; $4.95
billion was obligated in FY2009, and $5.45 billion in FY2010. CRS Report R43304, Public Health Service Agencies:
Overview and Funding, coordinated by C. Stephen Redhead.
6 Amounts shown in Table 1 include appropriations for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (FY2002-
FY2011) that were subject to transfer-out. As of FY2012, NIH no longer receives appropriations for the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identifying resources for the Global Fund; this responsibility was
transferred to another federal agency. For further details on the amounts transferred out by fiscal year, see the
“Supplemental Appropriation Data Table” for “History of Congressional Appropriations, Fiscal Years 2000-2012” at
http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/approp_hist.html.
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NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2016
been more modest (between about 1% and 3% each year), and, in some years, funding for the
agency decreased in nominal dollars. For instance:
• the FY2006 total was 0.1% lower than the previous year, the first time that the
NIH appropriation had decreased since FY1970;
• the FY2011 total, provided in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
(P.L. 112-10), was 1.0% below the previous year; and
• the FY2013 total, provided in the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6), was reduced by the March 2013
sequestration and a transfer of funding under the authority of the HHS Secretary
($1.553 billion and $173 million respectively), resulting in a budget that was
5.5% lower than the prior year.7
The NIH program level in FY2015 is $30.311 billion.8 P.L. 113-235, the Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, provides $30.084 billion for NIH in Division G (the
Labor/HHS and Education appropriations act): $29.369 billion for the NIH institutes and centers
plus $715 million from a Public Health Service (PHS) Act transfer.9 Congress directed the entire
$715 million to one NIH institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
offsetting the more than $700 million reduction in discretionary budget authority for NIGMS in
P.L. 113-235 compared with its FY2014 funding level. NIH received about $77 million for
Superfund-related research from Division F of P.L. 113-235.10 In addition, NIH receives
mandatory funding of $150 million annually that is provided in the PHS Act for a special program
on type 1 diabetes research.11
The President’s FY2016 budget requests an NIH program level total of $31.311 billion, an
increase of $1 billion (3.3%) over the FY2015 level of $30.311 billion. The FY2016 program
level request for NIH includes $150 million in mandatory funding for research on type 1 diabetes,
which is proposed for reauthorization in FY2016. The FY2016 program level amount also
proposes $847 million in funding transferred to NIH by the PHS Act transfer.
The lower half of Figure 1 portrays NIH funding adjusted for inflation (in constant 2012 dollars)
using the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI).12 It shows that the
7 The FY2012 amount of $30.861 billion appears to be 0.2% below the FY2011 amount of $30.916 billion. However,
the FY2011 amount includes $297.3 million that was subject to transfer-out for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB,
and Malaria.
8 This amount does not include $238,000,000 for the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for
research on Ebola that was provided in P.L. 113-235, Title VI of Division G; for more information, see CRS Report
R43807, FY2015 Budget Requests to Counter Ebola and the Islamic State (IS), coordinated by Susan B. Epstein.
9 NIH and other HHS agencies and programs authorized under the PHS Act are subject to a budget assessment called
the PHS Program Evaluation Set-Aside, also called the evaluation tap. Section 241 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. §238j)
authorizes the Secretary of HHS to use a portion of eligible appropriations to study the effectiveness of federal health
programs and to identify improvements.
10 Division F of P.L. 113-235 is the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 2015.
11 Mandatory funds for type 1 diabetes research under PHS Act §330B, provided most recently by P.L. 112-240 in
FY2014 and P.L. 113-93 in FY2015.
12 The index is developed each year for NIH by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce. It
reflects the increase in prices of the resources needed to conduct biomedical research, including personnel services,
supplies, and equipment. It indicates how much the NIH budget must change to maintain purchasing power. See “NIH
(continued...)
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purchasing power of NIH funding (non-ARRA) peaked in FY2003 (the last year of the five-year
doubling period) and has steadily declined in the years since. In constant 2012 dollars, FY2015
funding is 22% lower than the FY2003 level.
Figure 1. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding, FY1994-FY2016
Program Level Funding in Current and Constant (2012) Dol ars
Sources: NIH Budget Office, Appropriations History by Institute/Center (1938 to Present), at
http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/approp_hist.html, and Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year
2016 Budget in Brief, Washington, DC, February 2, 2015, p. 44, http://www.hhs.gov/budget/fy2016/fy-2016-
(...continued)
Price Indexes,” at http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/gbiPriceIndexes.html.
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budget-in-brief.pdf. Inflation adjustment reflects the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI),
updated February 2, 2015, http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/gbiPriceIndexes.html.
Notes: Program level includes al budget authority including appropriations for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
TB, and Malaria (FY2002-FY2011) that were subject to transfer-out. As of FY2012, NIH no longer receives
appropriations for the National Institute of Al ergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identifying resources for the
Global Fund; this responsibility was transferred to another federal agency. Excludes other transferred amounts
to and from HHS accounts, such as the PHS Act transfer (evaluation tap). ARRA supplementary funding is from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-5. FY2015 amount does not include
$238,000,000 for the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for research on Ebola that
was provided in P.L. 113-235, Title VI of Division G.
Table 1. NIH Funding, FY1994–FY2016
Program Level Funding in Current and Constant (2012) Dol ars (bil ions)
Program
Program
Level
% Loss
Fiscal Year
Level %
Change
Constant ’12 $
% Change
below ‘03
1994 $10.956
$19.762
1995 11.300
3.1%
19.699
-0.3%
1996
11.928 5.6%
20.275 2.9%
1997
12.741 6.8%
21.072 3.9%
1998
13.675 7.3%
21.875 3.8%
1999
15.629 14.3% 24.234 10.8%
2000
17.841 14.1% 26.669 10.0%
2001
20.459 14.7% 29.598 11.0%
2002
23.321 14.0% 32.658 10.3%
2003
27.167 16.5% 36.751 12.5%
2004
28.037 3.2% 36.565 -0.5% -0.5%
2005
28.594 2.0% 35.896 -1.8% -2.3%
2006
28.560 -0.1% 34.267 -4.5% -6.8%
2007
29.179 2.2% 33.729 -1.6% -8.2%
2008
29.607 1.5% 32.694 -3.1% -11.0%
2009
30.545 3.2%
32.771 0.2%
-10.8%
2010
31.238 2.3% 32.543 -0.7% -11.4%
2011
30.916 -1.0% 31.312 -3.8% -14.8%
2012
30.861 -0.2% 30.861 -1.4% -16.0%
2013
29.151 -5.5% 28.615 -7.3% -22.1%
2014
30.151 3.4%
29.007 1.4%
-21.1%
2015
30.311 0.5% 28.532 -1.6% -22.4%
2016
31.311 3.3%
28.779 0.9%
-21.7%
NIH Funding including ARRA Supplement
2009 35.499
38.086
2010 36.684
38.217
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Source: NIH Budget Office, Appropriations History by Institute/Center (1938 to Present), at
http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/approp_hist.html, and Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year
2016 Budget in Brief, Washington, DC, February 2, 2015, p. 44, http://www.hhs.gov/budget/fy2016/fy-2016-
budget-in-brief.pdf. Inflation adjustment reflects the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI),
updated February 2, 2015, http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/gbiPriceIndexes.html.
Notes: Amounts in table may differ from actuals in many cases. By convention, budget tables, such as Table 1
do not subtract the amount of transfers from the agencies’ funding. Program Level includes al budget authority,
including appropriations for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (FY2002-FY2011) that were subject
to transfer-out. As of FY2012, NIH no longer receives appropriations for the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identifying resources for the Global Fund; this responsibility was transferred to
another federal agency. Excludes other transferred amounts to and from HHS accounts, such as the PHS Act
transfer (evaluation tap). ARRA supplementary funding is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, P.L. 111-5. FY2015 amount does not include $238,000,000 for the National Institute for Al ergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for research on Ebola that was provided in P.L. 113-235, Title VI of Division G.
Author Contact Information
Judith A. Johnson
Specialist in Biomedical Policy
jajohnson@crs.loc.gov, 7-7077
Congressional Research Service
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