Bill Text: TX SCR40 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to preserve federal funding for community health centers.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-22 - Referred to Health & Human Services [SCR40 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SCR40-Introduced.html
| 85R12167 RMA-F | ||
| By: Lucio | S.C.R. No. 40 | |
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| WHEREAS, In 2015, community health centers provided | ||
| essential primary medical care, dental, behavioral health, and | ||
| substance abuse services to more than 1.2 million Texans; of those | ||
| individuals, 40 percent lacked health insurance and 70 percent | ||
| lived at or below the poverty line; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Lone Star State is home to some 450 community | ||
| health centers in 122 counties; dedicated to providing care to all | ||
| who need it, regardless of their ability to pay, those facilities | ||
| are annually visited by over 4.5 million patients, most of whom | ||
| would otherwise have to receive care in an emergency room; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Community health centers currently depend on | ||
| Medicaid as their largest source of reimbursement, as federal | ||
| grants subsidize the cost of treating uninsured patients; however, | ||
| 70 percent of federal funding for those facilities is set to expire | ||
| in September 2017, and without congressional action, many centers | ||
| will have to limit or discontinue services to residents in need; and | ||
| WHEREAS, An invaluable resource to the areas they serve, | ||
| community health centers have contributed immeasurably to the | ||
| health and well-being of millions of Texans, and it is necessary for | ||
| the federal government to continue supporting these important | ||
| efforts; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to preserve | ||
| federal funding for community health centers and retain Medicaid | ||
| and Children's Health Insurance Program protections for the | ||
| centers; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and to the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
