CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOSTON

Boston Children's Hospital advocates for medical research funding generally (eg NIH) and to assure an emphasis on pediatric research issues and concerns. In the current Congress, we have sought increases in the overall NIH appropriation level, and worked to assure better coordination across NIH institutes for pediatric initiatives. We have focused on the need to provide additional support for early career pediatric researchers through the planned reintroduction of the Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood Therapies (PACT) Act; inclusion of children within the All of Us research program, ARPA-H, and the 21st Century Cures 2.0. Our informatics research program has provided information on disease surveillance/pandemic preparedness, health IT and interoperability concerns to Congressional leaders.

Boston Children's Hospital focuses on child health access especially with respect to the Medicaid and CHIP programs. In the current Congress, we have sought to insure that children's' access to care through the Medicaid and CHIP programs is adequately funded. We have advocated for policies that enable complex pediatric patients to travel across state lines through the reintroduction of the Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act and have been actively involved in efforts to simplify screening and enrollment for out of state providers treating these children.

Boston Children's Hospital focuses on pediatric workforce education, and public health issues impacting children. In the 118th Congress, we have advocated for the reauthorization of and funding through the appropriations process for the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program (CHGME). We have also discussed the escalating mental and behavioral health challenges among youth and policy solutions in the areas of the pediatric mental health delivery system, workforce and infrastructure. Advocacy pertaining to youth and adolescent mental and behavioral health issues has included discussion of the reintroduction of legislative proposals such as: the Childrens Mental Health Infrastructure Act; the Helping Kids Cope Act (H.R. 2412); the Health Care Capacity for Pediatric Mental Health Act; the Kids Mental Health Now Act.

In this quarter, we sought Congressionally Directed Project support for the development of a unit serving children with ASD/IDD that have behavioral health needs in the FY2025 budget.