Health Center Advocacy Network Update

As we head into the final month of 2017, our advocacy to deliver the Health Center message to Congress loudly and persistently has never been more important. Congress returned to work this week and is facing a long to do list of “must-pass” items before the end of the year. One such item is the long-overdue extension of funding for Community Health Centers and other key programs like the National Health Service Corps and the Teaching Health Centers Program.  
As Congress begins their work for the remaining month of 2017, we want to make sure you as Advocates are informed and have the latest updates from Capitol Hill. Here is what we can share as of today:

• Without some action by December 8, the government will shut down. 

• A fix to the Health Center funding cliff is tied to passage of an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other “health extenders.”

• December 8th is when the current Continuing Resolution (CR) which has been funding the government since the end of the fiscal year (back on October 1), is set to expire. Congress will likely pass a short-term CR on December 8th, which would kick the can for an additional two, possibly three, weeks. However, the negotiations are currently up in the air.

• Congress must also review the extension of funding for important health programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which covers nearly 9 million children. Of most interest to health center advocates is the extension of the Community Health Centers Fund (CHCF), which accounts for more than 70% of federal grant funding for health centers, and which, like CHIP, expired on October 1. Without action to extend the fund this month, health centers will begin seeing restricted funds as soon as January 1st. 

• To read a more detailed update on the state of affairs in Washington DC, visit the NACHC Blog. 

While the endgame and timing remains unclear, the good news is the progress in the overall negotiation over these health extenders. And, without question, an enormous part of what has caused this progress is massive advocacy produced by Advocates like you. Visit the HC Advocacy blog for a more complete report on the history and impact of Health Center Advocacy.
Today, we urge Health Center Advocates to stay engaged and contact your Senate offices! The message remains simple - ask your Senators to act immediately to fix to the Health Centers Funding Cliff, you can ask them to include the Health Center Cliff fix as a part of the earliest available legislative vehicle, which right now appears to be the Continuing Resolution (CR) that must pass by December 8th.

Keep up to date at http://www.hcadvocacy.org/