Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ)
Department of Health and Human ServicesHospital patient safety programs; healthcare quality researchers; 6,000 hospitals using AHRQ tools
Summary
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the only federal agency dedicated entirely to studying how to make healthcare safer, more effective, and more affordable, funding research grants and free tools that hospitals use to prevent infections and medical errors. The FY2027 budget proposes cutting AHRQ's funding by $129 million, a 37% reduction, folding most of its remaining functions into a new HHS 'Office of Strategy' while eliminating new research grants.
Who Is Affected
Roughly 6,000 U.S. hospitals that rely on AHRQ-developed patient safety tools, along with the healthcare quality researchers, universities, and health systems that receive AHRQ grants, would see funding disappear. The plan would also eliminate AHRQ's Digital Healthcare Research portfolio entirely and cut its core Health Costs, Quality, and Outcomes research budget roughly in half, from $214.1 million to $103.2 million.
What this cut would actually mean
AHRQ-funded programs like CUSP and TeamSTEPPS have measurably cut hospital infections nationwide, including a 41% drop in central line bloodstream infections across more than 1,000 ICUs and a 25-40% drop in surgical site infections; a cut this size would shrink or eliminate the grants and staff that develop and spread these tools to new hospitals. AHRQ has already stopped funding new research projects for nearly a year amid funding disputes, so a further 37% cut would likely mean fewer new patient-safety toolkits, delayed research on medical errors and healthcare costs, and hospitals left with outdated guidance as care practices evolve.
Sources
- President Trump Proposes Cuts to HHS Funding in 2026 Budget — Confirms the administration's proposed $129 million reduction to AHRQ, describing plans to eliminate new grants and merge AHRQ's functions into a proposed HHS Office of Strategy.
- A dismantled federal patient care research agency: 9 updates — Reports that AHRQ is the only federal agency focused solely on studying how to improve healthcare delivery, and details the FY2027 proposal to cut about a third of its funding along with ongoing grant-funding freezes.
- Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) | AHRQ — AHRQ's own program summary documenting measured reductions in hospital infection rates achieved through AHRQ-funded CUSP implementation projects nationwide.
- What the FY27 President's Budget Request Actually Says About AHRQ — Analysis of the FY2027 budget text showing the proposed cut to AHRQ's Health Costs, Quality, and Outcomes research from $214.1 million to $103.2 million and elimination of the Digital Healthcare Research portfolio.
- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Budget: Fact Sheet — Congressional Research Service fact sheet providing background on AHRQ's funding structure and recent-year appropriation levels.
Administration's Stated Rationale
“Reduces duplicative healthcare quality research; core patient safety functions retained.”