S. 2619 would reauthorize the Healthy Start program, a program that provides grants to areas with high annual rates of infant mortality. The legislation would authorize $122.5 million annually from 2020 through 2024 for that program. In 2019, approximately $102 million was allocated for these purposes. The bill also would direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the Healthy Start program.
Based on historical spending for this program and assuming appropriation of authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $472 million over the 2020-2024 period.
The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 550 (health).