FAH President and CEO Chip Kahn issued the following statement after the Senate HELP Committee passed the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act:
“Funding for community health centers and workforce programs is desperately needed, but it is a travesty to fund them at the expense of essential patient care. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is no way to ensure health care for America’s most vulnerable.
“As reported by the Committee, the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act would threaten access to a wide range of vital services from telehealth to emergency care, particularly for patients in rural and underserved areas.
“FAH urges the committee to go back to the drawing board and develop a plan that both forwards their important agenda without placing rural and underserved communities at risk.”