Many groups that were awarded multi-year grants by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are now being informed that they will not be receiving the additional funding they were told they could expect.
In letters it is sending to such organizations, AHRQ is informing them it is not providing additional funding because its priorities have changed. Specifically, the letters explain that
AHRQ’s current priorities include focusing agency resources on patient safety, preventing antibiotic resistance, telehealth, overmedication of children, use of digital health tools to improve health, long COVID, artificial intelligence, nutrition, furthering understanding of autism, promoting research focused on scientifically valid, measurable health outcomes and solution-oriented approaches in health disparities research. As a result, AHRQ is adjusting its discretionary health services research award portfolio in order to better prioritize agency resources towards the above-mentioned priorities to best serve the interests of the Federal Government.
While Congress appropriated nearly $350 million to the agency in FY 2027, so far this year it has spent less than $15 million on research grants while reportedly canceling more than 100 grants. At the same time, the AHRQ has lost about three-quarters of its staff through a combination of layoffs and voluntary departures.
Learn more about the changes AHRQ is undergoing and its revised mission from the KFF Health News article “Trump Has Quietly Throttled an Agency Devoted to the Safety of American Healthcare” and go here to find redacted samples of the letter previously approved grant recipients are now receiving.