Ana
Martinez, a medical assistant at the Sea Mar Community Health
Center, giving a patient a flu shot January 11 in
Seattle.
AP
Funding for community health centers that provide
healthcare for
more than 25 million Americans is in jeopardy.
The Community Health Center Fund, which provides 70% of
the funding to the centers, expired September 30.
A plan to restore funding is likely going to be
attached to the legislation fought over during the next
government-shutdown discussion.
The next government-shutdown showdown will be critical for the
more than 1,300 health centers across the US that serve more than
25 million Americans.
Community health centers provide services as varied as primary
care, mental-health services, dental care, and addiction services
to underserved areas across the US.
They're primarily funded by the Community Health Center Fund. Of
the
$5.1 billion health centers got in 2017, $3.6 billion came
from the CHCF, while $1.5 billion came from annual federal
appropriations. The fund, initially established by the Affordable
Care Act in 2010 to last for five years, was extended in 2015 for
another two years.
The CHCF, however, expired on September 30, along with funding
for Children's Health Insurance Program. While
CHIP funding was restored as part of the January deal to
reopen the government, the CHCF was not.
The uncertainty around the funding is putting the centers in a
difficult spot.
"I am very worried that Congress will do nothing, that the
president will do nothing, and that we will be faced with making
— I don't want to overstate — but catastrophic decisions,"
Marjorie Hill, the CEO of the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health
Center in New York,
told Bloomberg.
To counter the funding shortage, some of the centers are planning
on or already implementing hiring freezes, halting plans to
renovate, and potentially considering scrapping services like
translation services, transportation, and possibly even dental
and mental-health services,
according to Kaiser Family Foundation.
It's likely that funding for the centers will be included in the
bill the government will need to pass to keep the government from
shutting down again. Congress has
until February 8 to pass that legislation.
The lapse in funding is on the radars of both Republicans and
Democrats.
"Republicans support community health centers and are continuing
to work to fund the program for the long term," Republican Rep.
Greg Walden of Oregon
wrote in a January 26 op-ed article.
"Congress must act immediately to fully fund community health
centers," Sen.Bernie Sanders of Vermont said in a tweet Friday.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 2, 2018
This is the health care crisis no one is talking about. Congress must act immediately to fully fund community health centers. https://t.co/vDflzD0qrQ
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