Another CR Offers Six Weeks of NHSC Funding, But the Clock is Still Ticking
On January 19, 2024, President Biden signed the third Fiscal Year 2024 continuing resolution (CR) into law, avoiding yet another government shutdown with less than 24 hours to spare. Congress decided to extend funding the government from January 19 to March 1 and 8. Hopefully, Congress can reach an agreement on annual spending bills prior to this new two-tiered deadline extension.
A government shutdown would have negatively impacted the clinical workforce offered by the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Reductions in the NHSC would mean that health centers and other safety-net providers have fewer incentives to recruit and retain clinical professionals to work in medically underserved areas. Moreover, states that receive NHSC State Loan Repayment Grants to help support state-based incentive programs would need to shoulder more of these costs in the future.
How Much Funding Have Public Health Extenders Received for Fiscal Year 2024 under the CR?
National Health Service Corps = NHSC
Community Health Centers = CHCs
Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Programs = THCGME
* Please note that with the new two-tiered deadline extension for public health extenders, both mandatory and appropriated funding ends on March 8. For the NHSC and CHCs, roughly 70% of funding is mandatory, while nearly 30% comes from appropriated (discretionary) funding.
Let’s Keep Up Our Advocacy for the NHSC!
Under the new CR, we will have more time to build pressure on Congress to ensure that more than 23 million people will not lose access to services provided by NHSC clinicians. Regardless of what developments may come, we must ensure that NHSC funding isn’t lost in partisan debates, and that we remind legislators that the Corps’ field strength is already insufficiently funded to fully meet needs in health professional shortage areas in the U.S.
Take Action: Set Up a Meeting With Your Member of Congress!
With the funding cliff temporarily averted, there’s time to get a meeting now with your member of Congress: members will be home for the President’s Day recess in February before the March deadline, so please try to get a meeting then.
Stay Tuned for Future Updates
As this new CR’s deadline looms, ACU will be closely monitoring legislative developments, and we will keep you updated on where everything stands. We’ll also continue working with House and Senate leadership to encourage action on the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act (S. 2840), which would include $950 million in annual NHSC funding for FY2024-2026. Now, as ever, we need your help to make this happen! Please stay tuned for further updates and encourage your colleagues to become ACU Advocates as well!
Jordan Marshall, Your ACU Advocacy Contact
Jordan Marshall is leading ACU’s grassroots advocacy to secure long-term funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Contact Jordan with any questions regarding policy analysis or if ACU can be of assistance with your own organizational or individual advocacy.