December 12, 2024

Safety Net Groups Send Letter to Congress on “Extenders Package”

November 13, 2017 – Six weeks have passed since funding expired for some of the nation’s most critical safety net health care programs. In the latest effort to compel Congress to act, and to do so immediately, ACU joined seven national health care organizations in authoring a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership explaining the impact felt by this gap in funding.

“Every day that Congress waits to pass funding for these critical programs, more and more communities are hurt,” said ACU Executive Director Craig A. Kennedy, MPH. “There is clear bipartisan support for each of these programs, and we need Congress to act NOW. The funding has already lapsed and underserved communities are bearing the brunt of this inaction.”

Together, ACU, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Teaching Health Centers, America’s Essential Hospitals, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, the Children’s Hospital Association and the National Association of Community Health Centers wrote to Congressional leaders in defense of, and on behalf of, the communities experiencing the consequences of the absence of funding for the following safety net programs:

  • the National Health Service Corps (NHSC);
  • the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP);
  • Community Health Centers Program (CHCs);
  • Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (DSH);
  • Maternal Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV); and
  • Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program (THCGME).

The services provided through each of these programs are integral to ensuring equal access to health care services for all. ACU urges Congress to act immediately to secure these vital health care programs for the future.

Read the text of the letter here.