Blunt leads 59 senators in calling for extension of funding for community health centers

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) led a bipartisan call on Tuesday for leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to act before funding for critical community health centers lapses at the end of the month.

Funding for the Community Health Centers Fund (CHCF) will expire at the end of September without action by Congress. Blunt and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) led 59 senators in writing a letter calling on committee leaders to help Congress extend CHCF funding to prevent the closure of community health centers that provide primary and preventative care to patients across the country.

“Community health centers have long enjoyed strong bipartisan support,” the letter states. “Since their initial creation over 50 years ago, community health centers have been a critical component of the nation’s primary care network, today serving approximately 26 million patients at over 10,000 sites throughout the United States. Community health centers operate in both rural and urban areas, in every state in the nation, and are an important part of the healthcare ecosystem of their communities.”

Failing to extend CHCF funding would lead to 2,800 site closures, 50,000 lost jobs and 9 million Americans losing access to primary and preventative care. The futures of the National Health Service Corps and Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education programs would also be at risk without CHCF funding, the letter continues.

“Community health centers provide critical health care services to more than half a million Missourians, 27 percent of whom are uninsured,” Blunt said. “Nationwide, community health centers serve one in six Americans living in rural areas. The care provided at these facilities doesn’t just save lives, it saves money by cutting down on the unnecessary use of emergency rooms and hospitalizations.”

The letter concluded that the strong showing of bipartisan support for the community health center program is a strong indicator of the importance of the program to the country.