By: Heather Jinkins Congress returns from its August recess this week to face a challenging agenda. When we last blogged about the FY2012 Appropriations process, we reported the House Labor – Health and Human Services (HHS) – Education Subcommittee had postponed consideration of the bill that funds the Health Centers program. Prior to adjournment for …

By: Anne Morris When we last blogged about FY2012 appropriations, the House Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education Subcommittee had postponed its consideration of the FY2012 Appropriations bill that funds the Health Centers program among other activities.  To date, the House Appropriations Committee has advanced 9 of its 12 bills (all but Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-Housing and Urban …

By: Heather Jinkins After weeks of intense deficit reduction deal negotiations between the Administration and Congressional leadership, the current fiscal climate remains challenging. For more on the larger deficit negotiations, read this blog. While it is still very possible that the House could delay consideration of its Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education Appropriations bill, officially, …

By: Anne Morris, MPH Since our last blog, the letter led by Senator Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Boozman (R-AR) closed the end of Friday with 42 additional Senators from both sides of the aisle joining Senators Stabenow and Boozman in conveying support for the Health Centers program in the FY2012 Appropriations process.  We are very …

By: Anne Morris, MPH Senator Thune (R-SD) and Senator Casey (D-PA) have introduced a Senate companion to Representative Murphy and Representative Green’s H.R. 1629.  S. 1059, the Family Health Care Accessibility Act of 2011 – like H.R. 1629 – would extend Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) medical malpractice coverage to health professional volunteers at 330-funded …

By: Anne Morris, MPH We’re happy to announce that since our update on FY2012 Appropriations last week, Senator Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Boozman (R-AR) have partnered on a letter to the Senate Labor-Health and Human Services(HHS)-Education Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee to convey support for the Health Centers program in the FY2012 Appropriations process.  This …

By: Anne Morris and Shana McClendon As you know, we have been following the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program since it was established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and most recently have been tracking legislation  that would rescind the unobligated portion of the $230 million in total mandatory funding for THCGME …

By: Anne Morris, MPH Senate The Senate Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education Subcommittee on Appropriations has set Friday, June 10th at 5pm eastern time as the deadline for programmatic requests, or Senators’ conveying their support for programs within the Subcommittee’s purview.  Given the challenging budget climate for all programs, the importance of individual Senators indicating …

By: Alexandra Sange We blogged last week about Congressmen Bilirakis and Pallone’s letter of support for health centers in FY2012.  Although the letter only circulated for a very short time (less than one week), it garnered 110 bipartisan signatures of support from House Members –  96 Democrats and 14 Republicans – a  significant achievement in …

By:  Anne Morris and Shana McClendon When we last blogged about the Teaching Health Centers (THC) program, the Energy and Commerce Committee had completed its consideration of H.R. 1216, legislation proposed by Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), which rescinds the unobligated portion of the $230 million in total mandatory funding available to support Teaching Health Centers …