White House releases FY 2022 discretionary budget request

President Biden today submitted to Congress his discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2022. The budget request, which is not binding, proposes $1.5 trillion for appropriated spending in FY 2022, including $769 billion for domestic programs, a 16% increase over last year’s level. The full budget request is expected to be released later this spring.  

Today’s budget proposes nearly $132 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, a 23% increase over last year’s enacted level, including $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the largest increase in nearly two decades.  

The budget request is largely shaped by several overarching themes: improving public health infrastructure, strengthening the economy, reducing inequities, and addressing climate change. It contains a number of health care-related provisions with a particular emphasis on public health, behavioral health, health care research, and health care disparities.