With the U.S. Senate already returned, the end of the Congressional Recess is approaching for the House, too, and it brings the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) still closer to losing all guaranteed funding as the Sept. 30 deadline looms. What now? The White House has urged Congress to pass a Continuing Resolution (extending current funding levels) to avert a possible government shutdown as talks continue, and while leaders have expressed openness to a CR, nothing is certain. What is certain is that our advocacy must continue, and it can make the difference. Read our talking points on Senate legislation below.
Justification & Urgency for National Health Service Corps Funding
- The NHSC is one of the federal government’s most successful workforce development investments with over 80% of participants staying in underserved communities at least one year after their mandatory service commitment.
- Over 20,000 providers currently serve over 21 million people in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in every U.S. state and territory, and more than 3,500 NHSC scholars are in residency or school preparing to serve.
- HRSA currently estimates that more than 99 million Americans live in primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), and more than 17,000 practitioners are needed to remove the HPSA designation from those areas.
- We are here today because without Congressional action, ALL funding for the NHSC will expire on September 30, 2023.
- Even at the current FY23 funding level, we want to point out that the program is able to fund fewer than 50% of scholarship and 75% of loan repayment applicants and even those levels fall well short of meeting the actual need.
- To ensure that the NHSC does not have to reject the vast majority of clinicians who want to practice in underserved areas, Congress must pass S. 862, the Restoring America’s Health Care Workforce and Readiness Act. This bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Senators Durbin and Rubin, would reauthorize the National Health Service Corps for three years, doubling mandatory funding in the first year and steadily increasing funding to support current field strength through Fiscal Year 2026.
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.
