Though Congress finally funded the Children's Health Insurance Program when it passed a bill to reopen the government, another program important to rural America, community health centers, were left waiting. "Funding for the nation’s community health centers, which serve one out
of every dozen Americans, also technically expired Sept. 30," Paige Cunningham reports for The Washington Post. "These
centers, which provide a range of services to the low-income population, would lose $3.6 billion this year without renewal by Congress."
CHIP funding has run out before, though never as long as 114 days. Community health centers have never faced such a lack of funds. Republicans had proposed diverting Medicaid money from Planned Parenthood clinics to community health centers in health-care bills last summer.
Cunningham says it's rumored on Capitol Hill that Congress will include funding for the centers in the next spending bill it needs to pass, by Feb. 8. Meanwhile, the centers are getting nervous. Some say they have had to reduce services, including opioid treatment and prenatal care, because of the uncertainty.
"While we have supported and are very pleased that CHIP relief is included, the failure to do the same for health centers leaves them increasingly anxious that many more will face a loss of clinical health professionals, who are seeking other more stable work options, and some are facing closure of their clinic facilities because they cannot sign longer-term lease agreements," National Association of Community Health Centers Senior Vice President Dan Hawkins said. "This will only get worse if relief is not forthcoming very soon."
CHIP funding has run out before, though never as long as 114 days. Community health centers have never faced such a lack of funds. Republicans had proposed diverting Medicaid money from Planned Parenthood clinics to community health centers in health-care bills last summer.
Cunningham says it's rumored on Capitol Hill that Congress will include funding for the centers in the next spending bill it needs to pass, by Feb. 8. Meanwhile, the centers are getting nervous. Some say they have had to reduce services, including opioid treatment and prenatal care, because of the uncertainty.
"While we have supported and are very pleased that CHIP relief is included, the failure to do the same for health centers leaves them increasingly anxious that many more will face a loss of clinical health professionals, who are seeking other more stable work options, and some are facing closure of their clinic facilities because they cannot sign longer-term lease agreements," National Association of Community Health Centers Senior Vice President Dan Hawkins said. "This will only get worse if relief is not forthcoming very soon."
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