Sign On Letter to House and Senate for Extenders Package

January 29, 2018

Dear Speaker Ryan, Minority Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer:

On January 22, 2018, the United States Congress once again passed a short-term measure to maintain funding for the federal government, this time through February 8, 2018. While it contained a critical extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, it failed to reauthorize and fund several other key expired health care programs and policies, each of which are vital to our health care system.

This lapse in authorization and funding, coupled with the continuous enactment of short-term patches, has put in jeopardy health care services for seniors on Medicare and patients in underserved communities, resources for health care providers in rural communities, and programs aimed at training primary care physicians. Among the programs that have been allowed to lapse or are awaiting reauthorization and funding are:
• Community Health Center Fund
• Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payment funding
• Medicare Therapy Cap Extension
• Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program
• Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
• National Health Service Corps
• Physician Fee Schedule GPCI Parity Policy

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