Biomedical Research: Issues Related to Increasing Size of NIH Grant Awards
HRD-88-90BR
Published: May 06, 1988. Publicly Released: Jun 06, 1988.
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Highlights
In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the growth in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) biomedical research grant awards to determine: (1) trend data in the NIH budget for fiscal years (FY) 1983 through 1987; (2) the size of research project grants for those years; (3) factors that could explain the increased size of awards; and (4) the reviewing, monitoring, and reporting practices NIH uses in dealing with grant recipients.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should use both the GNP implicit price deflator and BRDPI, as supplemental data to accompany NIH budget requests, to compare current and constant dollars of research grants. |
Closed – Implemented
NIH budget submissions continue to include the GNP implicit price deflator, but not BRDPI. NIH stated these data will be provided on request to the House Appropriations Subcommittee. The Subcommittee has not asked that BRDPI be routinely included in budget justifications.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should report to Congress on the results of its analyses and any measures taken or required to ensure the adequacy of controls over research grant awards. |
Closed – Implemented
As a followup to the report, the House Appropriations Commitee required the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) to study this issue. OIG provided a report to the Committee on its review. NIH stated it will continue to monitor increasing costs.
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| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should analyze the increasing size of research grants, including the large incremental increases in competing renewal awards and cost-of-living increases in noncompeting continuation budgets unrelated to the actual inflation rate. |
Closed – Implemented
NIH provided these data to Congress in FY 1989 and will continue to do so, since the subject almost always arises during hearings. With the HHS OIG review being initiated, these issues are to be included.
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Topics
Biomedical researchBudget outlaysFund auditsFunds managementGrant administrationGrant monitoringReporting requirementsResearch and development costsResearch grantsResearch program management