Health Care Provisions in the 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

Abstract

The US Constitution requires that federal money may not be spent unless appropriated by Congress. Under regular order, this is achieved by Congress passing twelve individual bills that, together, fund all the activities of the federal government. These bills must be approved by the President. The last time Congress passed all the individual bills was in 1996. Since then, the practice has been to fund the government through a series of continuing resolutions, which serve as temporary spending authorization, normally at levels from the previous fiscal year. Congress is not required to pass twelve individual appropriations bills. It may also pass a single bill to cover all spending for the fiscal year. This is generally referred to as an "omnibus spending bill". That is what was passed in December 2022. There were health policy provisions in the bill, and this article discusses some of the more relevant areas for pharmacists.