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Donkees

(31,079 posts)
Thu Mar 28, 2019, 07:20 AM Mar 2019

LIVE 10AM March 28 - Sen. Sanders and Rep. Clyburn Introduce Bill to Expand Community Health ...



Scheduled for Mar 28, 2019
House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hold a press conference to introduce the Community Health Center and Primary Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2019. This legislation increases funding for community health centers and ensures that the 28 million Americans who get primary care from community health centers continue to receive the care they need.
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LIVE 10AM March 28 - Sen. Sanders and Rep. Clyburn Introduce Bill to Expand Community Health ... (Original Post) Donkees Mar 2019 OP
LIVE Donkees Mar 2019 #1
Sanders and Clyburn Introduce Bill to Expand Community Health Centers Donkees Mar 2019 #2
Adding some background info: Donkees Mar 2019 #3

Donkees

(31,079 posts)
2. Sanders and Clyburn Introduce Bill to Expand Community Health Centers
Thu Mar 28, 2019, 11:28 AM
Mar 2019

WASHINGTON, March 28 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) announced legislation Thursday to extend and expand funding for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps. If Congress doesn’t act by September 30th, community health centers will lose the federal funding they need to keep their doors open.


Community health centers provide high-quality primary medical, dental, mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, and low-cost prescription drugs to 28 million people in 11,000 communities in every state in the country.

Sanders and Clyburn’s bill would allow 5.4 million more Americans to receive the primary care they need.

The National Health Service Corps provides scholarships and loan-repayment to over 10,000 clinicians each year working in underserved communities, often in health centers.

"In the richest country in the world, no American should have to go without basic health care. Community health centers are a critical lifeline for millions of Americans, and we must build upon their success by expanding them to everyone who needs them," Sanders said.

“I have often described the Affordable Care Act as the Civil Rights Act of the 21st Century because it banned many forms of discrimination in the healthcare system. The ACA was a critical piece of legislation that also dramatically expanded the federal funding for community health centers. This legislation builds on the steps taken by the ACA to further expand community health centers by ensuring the millions of Americans who get primary care from community health centers continue to receive care and expands access to more medically-underserved communities,” Clyburn said.

Under this bill, community health centers and the National Health Service Corps will see a 10 percent increase in funding each year for five years. The legislation also includes $4.6 billion for capital projects, which will allow community health centers across the nation to modernize their facilities and expand the scope of services they offer to better address the opioid epidemic and to meet the health care needs of an expanding patient base.

Each year, community health centers generate more than $24 billion in savings to the entire U.S. healthcare system. Over 220,000 people are employed by community health centers, and they generate nearly $55 billion in total economic activity.

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) are co-sponsors of the legislation in the Senate and 57 Members in the House are cosponsoring the legislation.

Organizations endorsing the legislation include: National Association for Community Health Centers; The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved; National Medical Association; The National Birth Equity Collaborative; National Black Nurses Association; Mental Health America; Morehouse School of Medicine; National Center for Transgender Equality; The African American Health Alliance; Southeast Asia Resource Center; Black Women’s Health Imperative; National Indian Council on Aging; National Hispanic Council on Aging; Diverse Elders Coalition; Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy; The National LGBTQ Task Force; and The National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, Inc.

Read a summary of the legislation here.

Read the text of the legislation here.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/

Donkees

(31,079 posts)
3. Adding some background info:
Fri Mar 29, 2019, 08:23 PM
Mar 2019
Sanders was instrumental in helping craft legislation to secure $11 billion in the Affordable Care Act that would expand access to community health centers for those who don't have access to a primary care physician.

An additional $1.5 billion went to the National Health Service Corps to provide funding and help repay loans of doctors who practice in underserved communities.

The legislation Sanders and Clyburn announced (in 2017), The Community Health Center and Primary Care Workforce Expansion Act, would expand on Sander's previous work by increasing funding for health centers from $5.1 billion to $12.5 billion over next 10 years.

"Today as we look at what's going on in health care in America, we're determined to do everything we can do to expand access to health care for the millions of Americans who absolutely need that care," said Sanders.

Sanders told reporters that if passed, the legislation would allow health centers to service twice as many people as it currently does.

Clyburn echoed Sanders comments, saying the health centers serve communities that few other providers serve, and by passing the legislation, lawmakers could help "build on the success of the Affordable Care Act and not turn back the clock."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sanders-clyburn-announce-act-to-expand-community-health-center-funding/

First published on June 26, 2017
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