Following yesterday’s release of the continuing resolution and year-end package, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) applauds Congressional leaders for including policies that will help health centers continue to provide coordinated, innovative primary care to rural and underserved communities nationwide. These policies will make a real difference to health centers, their patients, and communities.
Among the bill’s provisions are a two-year reauthorization of the Community Health Center Fund at a rate of $4.5 billion per year for Fiscal Year 2025 and $4.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2026. Should this package be enacted, the Community Health Center Fund will ultimately receive a 15% increase over the funding rate included in its last long-term authorization and along with it, the peace of mind and budgetary confidence that comes with a two-year authorization for health center funding.
This critical investment is the culmination of years of dedicated advocacy by ACH, its members, and advocates nationwide. Most recently, in October 2024, ACH led a group of over 550 national, state, and local organizations, representing all 50 states and U.S. territories, in sending a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to enact a meaningful, sustained increase in funding through the Community Health Center Fund. The Congressional Budget Office has found that care provided at community health centers leads to more cost-effective care and lower federal spending for the Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as lower spending in emergency departments, inpatient hospital settings, and other outpatient services.
“On behalf of our members and the patients they serve, ACH today expresses its sincere gratitude to Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle for this critical, long-term investment in community health centers,” said ACH CEO Amanda Pears Kelly. “ACH has worked tirelessly since our inception to advocate for increased funding to help health centers weather the myriad financial challenges they face, and we are deeply grateful for this bipartisan show of support. We urge lawmakers to approve this funding package swiftly and move it to the President’s desk for his signature.”
This legislative package also includes telehealth payment parity for federally qualified health centers and rural health centers, to ensure these providers are reimbursed sufficiently and fairly for the telehealth services they provide. ACH has joined with the National Association of Rural Health Clinics in urging Congress to make this important reimbursement change and deeply appreciates Congress’s responsiveness to this issue.
In addition, ACH strongly supports this legislation’s five-year reauthorization and year over year increases for the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program, culminating in $300 million per year for the program by Fiscal Year 2029, as well as the extension of mandatory funding for the National Health Service Corps through Fiscal Year 2026. Lastly, ACH is deeply gratified to see an extension of telehealth flexibilities for health centers to provide mental health services through January 1, 2027.
About Advocates for Community Health
Established in 2021, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization of community health centers dedicated to forward-thinking and ambitious federal policy and advocacy on behalf of health centers, their patients, and their communities. To learn more, visit advocatesforcommunityhealth.org.