The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) continues to face a devastating funding cliff in a matter of days. As you may know, the NHSC serves more than 23 million people in our nation’s medically underserved communities, but the Corps has no guaranteed funding beyond the 2023 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Last week, we asked for your help to urge House Representatives to support a Dear Colleague letter urging House Appropriations to support at least $175.6 million in discretionary funding for the NHSC in FY24, and thanks to your efforts, a significant number of Representatives signed on!
This is a major advocacy win, and this effort has now moved to the Senate. We’re asking for your immediate action to keep up the momentum by urging legislators to show similar support in the U.S. Senate. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), ACU’s 2022 Congressional Champion, has just released a letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations calling for robust funding for the NHSC and Nurse Corps. If we can urge enough Senators on both sides of the aisle to sign on to this letter, we can build upon the recent bipartisan support for the NHSC in this chamber. This letter will help support the bill released earlier this month by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL)—the Restoring America’s Health Care Workforce and Readiness Act—which would provide historic investments in the NHSC scholarship and loan repayment program to address health workforce shortages throughout our country.
Please contact your Senators today (call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected directly with their office) or take less than a minute to complete our easy online form and ask that they sign on to this letter to renew funding for these two vital programs. Your advocacy made the difference before, and it can do so again: join us in supporting the Corps and ensuring access to care for the 23 million individuals who rely on its services.
Call To Action: Two Ways to Help
- Contact your Senators by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to sign on to this letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to support robust FY24 funding for the NHSC and Nurse Corps. Suggested talking points are below to help guide your call. Please feel free to use this as guidance in your messages or conversations with your Senators and their offices.
- Email your Senators using our quick form (1 minute or less).
Suggested Talking Points
“Thank you for your bipartisan efforts to alleviate health workforce shortages in underserved areas during this public health emergency. I ask that you continue to build upon these efforts by supporting adequate and sustainable funding for the National Health Service Corps in Fiscal Year 2024. This vital program provides incentives for talented and capable health care professionals to deliver necessary, high-quality patient care in underserved areas.
The NHSC delivers important patient care to my community. My state is also facing an epidemic of opioid addiction, and the NHSC provides enhanced assistance to providers who specialize in treatment for substance use disorder.
This program is crucial for recruiting and retaining health care professionals in our state’s health centers and in Health Professional Shortage Areas. The COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrated the pressing need for these programs as the pandemic strained the healthcare workforce and compelled some professionals to leave the medical field. It is important that strong funding levels are maintained as health care professionals across the country extend their service obligations and new professionals join their ranks.
To meet personnel and public health needs in underserved areas, Congress must ensure that the NHSC has the resources necessary to support those who commit to serving the most vulnerable Americans. I respectfully request that you support renewed and robust funding for the NHSC. Thank you.”
Remember:
Now is a critical time to support the effort to preserve and extend funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC)! We need your voice to urge legislators to support bipartisan initiatives to renew the NHSC’s funding. Become an ACU advocate today, keep up-to-date on what’s happening, take action, and ask your friends and colleagues to join us 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.
