Advocacy - Comment Letter
Dear Chair Capito, Ranking Member Baldwin, Chair Aderholt, and Ranking Member DeLauro,
As Friends of NCHS, we write to thank you for the Subcommittee’s bipartisan support for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in recent years. NCHS is the nation’s principal health statistical agency. Through its data collection and analysis, NCHS provides enormous value to researchers, policymakers, and the public. To support this essential work, the undersigned organizations respectfully request an appropriation of $220 million for NCHS in Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. This increased funding will strengthen the center’s ability to provide accurate and timely health and vital records data to policymakers and reinforce its role as the world’s gold-standard producer of health statistics.
Despite a growing need for public health and health care data, NCHS has experienced a 24 percent loss in purchasing power since FY2010. NCHS needs increased resources to better support data collection and make critical updates to survey content, methodology, and technology. 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’s ability to produce timely, high-quality, and trusted health statistics depends on a highly skilled workforce with deep methodological, statistical, and subject matter expertise. We encourage the committee to oppose reductions in force and provide the necessary resources to support robust staffing at NCHS to ensure the Center’s capacity to maintain core data systems, implement modernization efforts, and respond rapidly to emerging public health needs. Sustained investment is necessary to maintain a skilled workforce that can ensure continuity, data quality, and public trust in federal health statistics.
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. The enclosed document details specific areas in which additional investment will help NCHS enhance its work. Again, we respectfully request an appropriation of $220 million for NCHS in FY 2027. 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 at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Academic Pediatric Association
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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
American Association on Health and Disability
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Heart Association
American Liver Foundation
American Pediatric Society
American Public Health Association
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society for Nutrition
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
American Statistical Association
ASHP
Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Population Centers
Association of Public Data Users
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Healthy Teen Network
ICPSR, The Data Consortium
IPUMS
Lakeshore Foundation
March of Dimes
Maricopa County Public Health -Vital Records
Marker Consulting
National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Coalition of STD Directors
National Health Council
National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA)
National League for Nursing
National Safety Council
Pediatric Policy Council
Population Association of America
Power to Decide
Prevent Blindness
RTI International
Safe States Alliance
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Pediatric Research
Society for Public Health Education
Society for Women's Health Research