U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) on Jan. 10 sponsored a bipartisan measure to continue federally funding community health centers and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) beyond this year’s Sept. 30 deadline.
“This bipartisan bill will ensure community health centers and the National Health Service Corps have the resources to continue providing quality, affordable health care services in communities across” his home state of Missouri and around the country, Sen. Blunt said. “I will continue working to make sure people who rely on community health centers have access to the care they need.”
The Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, S. 106, would reauthorize for five years both the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) and the NHSC, and would provide each with yearly federal funding increases beginning in fiscal year 2020.
The nation’s community health centers offer medical, dental, vision and behavioral health care to 28 million patients, including more than 355,000 military veterans and 8 million children, at more than 11,000 sites around the United States, Sen. Blunt’s office said.
“Community health centers serve more than half a million Missourians, including many veterans and individuals who are uninsured or live in underserved areas,” said Sen. Blunt. “These centers save lives and lower health care costs by offering a wide range of behavioral and physical health treatment services and reducing the number of expensive, unnecessary trips to emergency rooms or hospitals.”
Cosponsors of S. 106 include lead Democrat U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, as well as U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Sen. Stabenow said that community health centers provide quality, affordable health care to more than 680,000 people in her state of Michigan, including 217,000 children and 13,000 veterans.
“It is critical that we increase funding for community health centers so they can serve more patients in need and provide certainty to clinics before funding expires on Sept. 30,” she said.
Tom Van Coverden, CEO for the National Association of Community Health Centers, said the bill would help secure “much needed long-term funding for community health centers at a time when the demand for preventive care in communities across the country continues to grow.”
Sens. Blunt and Stabenow in February 2018 announced that their advocacy efforts helped to secure a two-year funding reauthorization for community health centers, with a $600 million funding increase as part of the larger Bipartisan Budget Act. This is the funding that is set to expire on Sept. 30.
S. 106 has been referred to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for consideration.