At the end of last week, Congress passed a spending package which provides health centers with an increase in funding through December 2024. Read on to learn more about the bill.
Community health centers receive federal funding through the Community Health Center Fund and through the annual appropriations process. The Community Health Center Fund, which is 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, 2023, marked the end of the fiscal year, the date on which both forms of health center funding were set to expire. Congress has since passed multiple short-term continuing resolutions to fund the government and health centers for a few months at a time.
Congress Passes Spending Bill with Health Center Funding
By the end of last week, the House and Senate had both passed a package of six of the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the government. The bill's passage comes months after the newest fiscal year started on October 1, 2023 and follows the passage of three short-term continuing resolutions. The $467.5B package increases and extends community health center funding to $4.4B through the end of 2024 and increases funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC)and Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program (THCGME).
The House passed the bill on Wednesday, 339-85 while the Sente passed the bill Friday in a 75-22 vote. Of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation, Representatives Fleischmann (R-3), Kustoff (R-8), and Cohen (D-9) voted in favor of the spending package. Senator Sanders (I-VT), Chair of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Ranking Member, Senator Cassidy (R-LA) each released statements on the package.
This spending package addresses the bulk of community health center funding, accounting for about 70% of the total funding health centers receive annually, the other 30% of funding must also be passed before it expires on March 22.
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