At least 67 grants through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have been cut off as of Friday evening, according to an advocacy group.
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality told multiple grant recipients this week they won’t receive continuing funding for previously awarded projects, cutting off dollars for ongoing efforts to improve America’s health-care system through research and training new scientists and clinicians.
Spokespeople for the Health and Human Services Department, which includes AHRQ, didn’t provide interviews or answer multiple written questions Friday from Inside Higher Ed, including how much funding the agency has denied. As of early Friday afternoon, AcademyHealth, which represents health services and health policy researchers, said it had gathered information on 67 cutoff grants, which lost nearly $97 million in “estimated remaining committed funding,” as the group put it.
“Everything Americans hate about health care is what this research focuses on,” said Aaron Carroll, AcademyHealth’s president and chief executive officer. “You think health care costs too much in the United States? Really makes you angry? That’s AHRQ. You think it's too hard to get in to see a doctor? Wait times are too long? That's AHRQ.”
