Commentary: Yesterday afternoon, U.S. Representatives Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM-02) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-01) led a bipartisan group of 27 House colleagues urging Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy to preserve long-term funding and resources for critical programs serving vulnerable populations and Americans in rural areas as the United States continues to face the COVID-19 public health emergency. The two lead members issued the following statements after the delivery of their concerns to Congressional Leadership:
Torres Small said: “Rural healthcare providers already operate at the margins. Right now, they’re under even more financial strain and uncertainty without a clear, long-term plan to preserve essential programs such as THCGME and Community Health Centers. Doctors and nurses are working around the clock to protect our families and neighbors, and it’s now on Congress to step up to end unnecessary doubt and secure long-term authorization for these proven community-based programs.”
LaMalfa said: “In rural areas like Northern California, we have a severe shortage of physicians, resulting in less access to vital healthcare. The 12 Community Health Centers (CHC) and Teaching Health Centers (THC) in my district serve over 200,000 patients alone. THCs, like Shasta Community Health Center in Redding, not only provide much-needed short-term care in medically underserved rural areas, but also help train physicians who will plant their roots and be there for their patients long-term. A 5-year reauthorization of critical funding for THCs and CHCs helps grow the number of physicians in our area, while giving patients the stability they need.”
The lawmakers sent the letter following enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which reauthorizes the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Program, Community Health Centers (CHCs), National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Special Diabetes Program, and Special Diabetes Program for Indians through November 30, 2020.
As part of their letter, members thanked leadership for their ongoing commitment to improving our nation’s health care system while also noting areas for additional support such as the failure to “continue short-term authorizations” of these critical programs could “leave health care providers and patients alike facing uncertainty as the expiration date looms.” Additionally, the letter called attention the consequences for rural communities if Congress failed to act on a long-term authorization such as undermining “health care providers’ ability to invest in purchases such as medical equipment and forces them to brace for significant layoffs of staff.”
The members continued to build their case for urgent action by drawing attention to the domino effect of failing to act before the most recent short-term authorization of THGME, CHCs, NHSC, and Special Diabetes Programs expire in fall 2020. The Members wrote, “the failure to reauthorize the programs before they expire would result in patients across the country facing reduced access to care, worsened health outcomes, and increased treatment costs. This uncertainty leaves vulnerable communities feeling the consequences.”
Torres Small, LaMalfa and additional Members representing underserved communities, concluded by re-stating the urgency of timely long-term authorization, “Funding uncertainty threatens to jeopardize these programs and the essential care they provide. We urge immediate action to approve a five-year reauthorization so that these critical programs have robust funding and the stability necessary to achieve their mission of improving the health and well-being of all Americans.”
In addition to Representatives Torres Small and Doug LaMalfa, the letter was signed by Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Cindy Axne (IA-03), Deb Haaland (NM-01), Susan Davis (CA-53), Tom Cole (OK-04), John Garamendi (CA-03), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Collin C. Peterson (MN-07), Harley Rouda (CA-48), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), David Scott (GA-13), Pete Stauber (MN-08), John H. Rutherford (FL-04), Abby Finkenauer (IA-01), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), David Trone (MD-06), Bobby L. Rush (IL-01), Jim Costa (CA-16), Susie Lee (NV-03), and Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), and Haley Stevens (MI-11). The full letter can be found here
The letter was also supported by a range of healthcare focused organizations: American Association of Teaching Health Centers, American Academy of Family Physicians, National Association of Community Health Centers, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, American Osteopathic Association, Council of Academic Family Medicine, and the American Diabetes Association.