Warren, Menino to discuss impact of budget cuts

BOSTON (AP) -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino are preparing to highlight how across-the-board federal budget cuts known as the sequester will hit National Institute of Health research funding.

The $85 billion in budget-wide cuts automatically start taking effect March 1 if congressional lawmakers fail to agree on a compromise.

The impact on health would be devastating.

The National Institutes of Health would lose $1.6 billion, trimming cancer research and drying up funds for hundreds of other research projects. Health departments would give 424,000 fewer tests for the AIDS virus. More than 373,000 people may not receive mental health services.

On Monday, Warren and Menino will join leaders of Massachusetts hospitals and research universities at the Boston Medical Center to discuss the importance of NIH funding and how the sequester will affect medical research in the region.

Cox Media Group