The recently approved 2006 congressional budget package earmarks $61.7 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS; Washington, DC). The amount includes $42.8 million in direct funding and $18.9 million for discretionary spending.

In the 2005 budget, Congress initially failed to appropriate any funding to ONCHIT, but did eventually provide about $33 million for the office. That makes this year's allocation an increase of 87%. The amount falls $13.3 million short of President Bush's budget request, and represents a compromise between the House's proposal and the $42 million recommended in the original Senate budget.