On March 23, 2018, the President signed the FY 2018 Omnibus bill, which provides funding for the U.S. government through the rest of the 2018 fiscal year including for U.S. global health programs.

Key highlights from the bills are as follows (see table for additional detail):

• Funding provided to the State Department and USAID through the Global Health Programs (GHP) account, which represents the bulk of global health assistance, totaled $8.7 billion, essentially flat compared to the FY 2017 enacted level, and $2.2 billion (34%) above the President’s FY 2018 request.
• Funding provided to CDC for global health totaled $488.6 million, $53.5 million (12%) above the FY 2017 enacted level ($435.1 million), and $138.6 million (40%) above the President’s FY 2018 request. The majority of the increase in FY 2018 ($50 million) was provided to support CDC’s global health security (GHS) activities over a three-year period.
• While total global health funding at NIH is not yet known, funding for the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at NIH totaled $75.7 million, $3.5 million (5%) above the FY 2017 enacted levels ($72.2 million); the administration proposed to eliminate FIC in the President’s FY 2018 request.
• Details on global health funding in the FY 2018 Omnibus bill are as follows (unless otherwise specified, all funding amounts are under the GHP account):
  • Bilateral HIV funding through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was $4,650 million in the FY 2018 Omnibus bill, matching the FY 2017 enacted level and $800 million (21%) above the President’s FY 2018 request.
  • The bill included $1,350 million as the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), matching the FY 2017 enacted level and $225 million (20%) above the President’s FY 2018 request.
  • The bill provided $261 million in total funding for Tuberculosis (TB), which was $20 million (8%) above the FY 2017 enacted level and $82.6 million (46%) above the President’s FY 2018 request; funding for TB was one of only two programs under the GHP account that increased in the FY 2018 omnibus compared to the FY 2017 enacted level.
  • The bill provided $755 million for Malaria activities, which matched the FY 2017 enacted levels and was $81 million (12%) above the President’s FY 2018 request (the FY 2018 request included $424.0 million for malaria through the GHP account and $250 million through a one-time transfer of unspent emergency Ebola funding).
  • The bill provided $172.6 million in total funding for Global Health Security (GHS), of which $100 million was provided through a one-time transfer of unspent emergency Ebola funding. The FY 2018 GHS total funding level was $100 million (138%) above both the FY 2017 enacted level and the President’s FY 2018 request (the FY 2018 request included $72.5 million for GHS through a one-time transfer of unspent emergency Ebola funding).
  • The FY 2018 Omnibus bill included $35 million for the “Emergency Reserve Fund” through a one-time transfer of unspent emergency Ebola funding. This fund was created in FY 2017 to address emerging health threats.
  • The bill included $967.0 million for Maternal and Child Health (MCH), $15 million (2%) above the FY 2017 enacted level. It is not possible to calculate total MCH funding in the President’s FY 2018 request due to uncertainty over the source of funding for the U.S. contribution to UNICEF. Specific areas under MCH include:
    • Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance was $15 million (5%) above the FY 2017 enacted level ($275 million) and matched the FY 2018 request ($290 million); funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance was one of only two programs under the GHP account that increased in the FY 2018 omnibus compared to the FY 2017 enacted level.
    • Polio, matched the FY 2017 enacted level ($51.5 million in the GHP account and $7.5 million in the ESF account) and was $15 million (25%) above the FY 2018 request.
    • The bill provided $137.5 million as the U.S. contribution to the UNICEF through the International Organizations and Programs (IO&P) account. The FY 2018 request proposed to eliminate the IO&P account, but allowed for contributions to UNICEF through other unspecified accounts.
  • Funding for Nutrition totaled $125 million in the bill, matching the FY 2017 enacted level and $46.5 million (59%) above the FY 2018 request.
  • Funding for Vulnerable Children totaled $23 million, matching the FY 2017 enacted level; funding for Vulnerable Children was eliminated in the FY 2018 request.
  • Funding for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) was $100 million, matching the FY 2017 enacted level and $25 million (33%) above the FY 2018 request.
  • Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) funding in the bill totaled $607.5 million from all accounts, matching the FY 2017 enacted level; funding for FP/RH was eliminated in the President’s FY 2018 request.
    • Of the $607.5 million in FP/RH funding, $575 million was provided for bilateral programs ($524 through the GHP account and $51 million through the ESF account).
    • The FY 2018 Omnibus bill included $32.5 million as the U.S. contribution to UNFPA, which matched the FY 2017 enacted level; funding for UNPFA was eliminated in the FY 2018 request.

Note: Some funding amounts (e.g. global health funding provided through the Economic Support Fund account at USAID and NIH funding for international HIV research) are determined at the agency level, and were not earmarked by Congress in the Omnibus bill.

Resources:

• FY2018 Omnibus Bill
• FY2018 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill Explanatory Statement
• FY2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill Explanatory Statement

UPDATED: This posted was updated to reflect the President’s signing of the bill into law.

The table (.xls) below compares the FY 2018 Omnibus bill to the FY 2017 enacted funding amounts as outlined in the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017” (P.L. 115-31; KFF summary here) and President’s FY 2018 request (KFF summary here).