Community health centers receive federal funding through the Community Health Center Fund and through the annual appropriations process.
- The Community Health Center Fund, which provides multi-year base funding for health centers, accounts for about 70% of federal funding and was last reauthorized three years ago.
- Health centers also receive about 30% of their federal funding through the annual appropriations process.
September 30 marks the end of the fiscal year and the deadline by which both forms of funding will expire. |
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| What is the status of the Community Health Center Fund? |
Funding for community health centers will expire on September 30 if Congress fails to act. The House was set to vote on H.R. 5378, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act on Monday, but postponed consideration of the bill. The legislation would provide an extension of the Community Health Center Fund and key workforce programs including:
- $4.4B per year for community health centers for the next 2 years
- $350M per year for the National Health Service Corps for the next 2 years
- Seven years of funding for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, increasing to $300M per year
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The bill could still come up for a vote next week, but we need all advocates to continue to urge their House members to support this investment in community health centers.
Make sure your voice heard and reach out to your members of the House today! |
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In the Senate, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), announced a bill, the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act. This bill would also provide an extension of the Community Health Center Fund and key workforce programs, but at varying levels or timeframes from the House bill:
- $5.8B per year for community health centers for the next 3 years
- Three years of funding for the National Health Service Corps, increasing from $310M to $950M per year
- Five years of funding for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, increasing to $300M per year
- $3B in capital funding for health centers, primarily for dental care and mental health care
- Additional funding to increase the number of nurses and primary care doctors
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| The Senate HELP Committee will be considering the proposal by Senator Sanders and Marshall on Thursday, September 21. |
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| What is the status of community health center appropriations? |
| Rather than pass the annual appropriations bills, which would include health center funding by September 30, the House is pursuing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at current levels. However, there are currently disagreements within the House about what should be included in the continuing resolution. If an agreement is not reached, the U.S. will enter a government shutdown. |
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