ECONOMIC GROWTH

Investing in NIH creates new private-sector jobs,
grows the economy, and drives innovation

NIH funds research at universities and institutions in all 50 states.  These investments improve our country’s health and drive the nation’s economy.  NIH-funded research and scientific discovery have created millions of high-paying public- and private-sector jobs in cities and towns across the country.
 

Federal investment in biomedical research
is a powerful private-sector job creator

NIH directly supports nearly 400,000 jobs across the country, and every $1 of NIH funding generates more than double that in local economic growth. More than 90 percent of NIH's budget funds medical research at universities, laboratories, and small businesses across the country.

Real people in our communities hold real jobs as a result of NIH-funded research.  Lab technicians, computer scientists, statisticians, researchers, IT support, program managers, support staff, and other positions all are funded with money from NIH. 
 

NIH supports more than 350,000 jobs across the country..jpg

NIH investments create trillion-dollar industries

NIH-funded research fuels economic growth by discovering life-saving technologies that fuel the creation of new industries, businesses, and technologies. 

According to a Battelle study, NIH’s $3.8 billion investment to sequence the human genome has returned over $1 trillion in economic growth so far – with no end in sight.  
 

Finding cures faster strengthens the U.S. economy

In addition to creating jobs and growing local economies, NIH-discovered treatments and cures slash long-term healthcare costs that eat up taxpayer dollars.  Today, 1 out of 3 Medicare dollars is spent on diabetes-related care, and 1 out of 5 Medicare dollars is spent on Alzheimer’s-related care.  Without a breakthrough treatment or cure, Alzheimer’s disease will cost our families more than $1 trillion a year by 2050 – or twice what we currently spend to defend the country.   

Investing in medical research will also pay dividends for years to come.  Research discoveries lead to treatments and cures that will control long-term healthcare costs and result in real savings.

For example:

  • Beta blockers developed by the NIH in collaboration with industry reduced Medicare expenditures by $6,000 per patient as a result of decreased hospitalizations.
     
  • NIH researchers have helped develop new treatments that delay or prevent diabetic retinopathy, saving the U.S. $1.6 billion a year.
     
  • Treatments that delay the onset or progression of Alzheimer’s disease by six years could produce annual savings of $126 billion by 2025, and $444 billion by 2050.
     
  • The prevention of just 5 percent of new cases of chronic conditions would reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending by nearly $5.5 billion a year by 2030.
     
  • Reducing the new diagnosis rate of Parkinson’s disease by 1 percent could save an average of $250 million per year in treatment, Social Security payments, and lost productivity.

Relieving the economic burden of disease on government healthcare programs and families
should be a priority for The White House and Congress.

Robust investment in NIH has created jobs and sustained careers across the United States, but a decade of stagnant funding has stalled scientific discovery, frozen job creation, and slowed economic growth.  We cannot and must not allow that continue.

It’s time to restore NIH funding, then set it on a path of steady, predictable growth
so America and its people can prosper.