Congress finally passed an omnibus budget bill last week that President Trump signed last Friday to narrowly avert another government shutdown. Many were hopeful that the last “must-pass” legislation before the midterm elections would include health care marketplace stabilization and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but agreement was unattainable. The final deficit-increasing $1.3 trillion spending package funds the government through September, and Democrats had significant leverage, allowing them to include some budget wins for health care, though not the stabilization package. Among the increases:

• a $10 billion increase for the Department of Health & Human Services,
• $3.6 billion to fight the opioid epidemic,
• $3.2 billion for mental health care,
• a $3 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health to boost research on Alzheimer’s and a universal flu vaccine, and
• a $1 billion increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also allowing the CDC to examine causes and prevention of gun violence.