WASHINGTON – The Medicare funding bill that passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday includes full funding for community health centers.
They face a 70 percent cut in funding if Congress and the President do not approve all of the funds.
The Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center, headquartered in Newburgh,
is one facility that could face that massive cutback, but the full funding
by the House is a significant step forward, said Jonnie Wesley-Krueger,
the center’s chief advancement officer.
“Family health centers throughout the United States have now been assured at least in the House of Representatives that there will be funding. Now we have to work toward making sure that the Senate signs off on that and then we feel very confident that it will be very good,” she said.
William Sherman, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network vice president of government relations of the Eastern Division, lauded the vote.
“Community health centers provide critical access to care for those who would not otherwise have access,” Sherman said. “Extending the funding will save lives and help detect more cancers at earlier stages. Dying from cancer should not be a side effect of living in poverty.”
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