Advocacy - Comment Letter
Dear Chair Capito, Ranking Member Baldwin, Chair Aderholt, and Ranking DeLauro,
As Friends of NCHS, we write to thank you for the subcommittee’s support for the National Center for Health Statistics in recent years. Through its data collection and analysis, NCHS provides enormous value to researchers and policymakers. To that end, the undersigned organizations respectfully request an appropriation of $220 million for NCHS in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. This increased funding will strengthen the agency’s ability to provide accurate and timely health data to policymakers and reinforce the Center’s role as the world’s gold-standard producer of health statistics.
The enclosed document details specific areas in which additional investment will help NCHS enhance its work. Recent outbreaks and public health crises have provided a renewed understanding that timely, frequent, and granular data on America’s health and health care are essential to guide the public policy decisions that protect and improve the health and security of our nation. With additional funding, NCHS will be able to modernize its data collection efforts and more quickly provide meaningful information to policymakers, public health officials, providers, patients, and scientists who rely on NCHS data. NCHS could also better support the work of coroners and medical examiners whose death certificates are fundamental to the NCHS Vital Statistics System, as explained in this document , Saving Lives through Better Understanding of Deaths.
The Friends of NCHS greatly appreciates the House and Senate Subcommittees’ longstanding support of NCHS and we look forward to continuing to work with you. Again, we respectfully request an appropriation of $220 million for NCHS in FY 2026. Thank you for supporting this essential agency and its role in monitoring the health of our nation. If you have questions or wish to discuss this issue, please reach out to Meghan Riley, Chair of the Friends of NCHS, at [email protected].
Sincerely,
AcademyHealth
Advocates for Better Children's Diets
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association on Health and Disability
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American Heart Association
American Pediatric Society
American Public Health Association
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society for Nutrition
American Society on Aging
American Sociological Association
American Statistical Association
Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Population Centers
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Healthy Teen Network
ICPSR
Lakeshore Foundation
March of Dimes
Marker Consulting, LLC