[K]ey Vermont lawmakers learned Thursday that a federal program that provides many lower-income Vermonters with primary health care is in jeopardy while a separate program that assists with heating fuel bills is in better shape than originally feared.
Almost two-thirds of the funding for the Federal Qualified Health Centers is scheduled to run out at the end of September and no deal has been struck to continue the allocations, according to Kathryn Becker Van Haste, who is the director of health policy for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
She told legislators who serve on the Joint Fiscal Committee that one in four Vermonters receive their primary health and dental care at an FQHC. If the funding is cut, Van Haste said nine of the almost 60 FQHCs in Vermont could be affected. Vermont has the highest rate of use per capita of FQHCs in the country, she said. The loss to Vermont would be $11 million.
Van Haste said the FQHC program has strong bipartisan support in Congress and that Sanders, who has fought for higher funding for the FQHCs, is pushing for reauthorization. In 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act, Sanders successfully pushed for additional funding on top of the annual allocations. Those annual allocations have since been reduced so that the additional funding now comprises 70 percent of the FQHCs’ allocation.
“Sen. Sanders is pushing hard to make sure those programs continue,” Van Haste said. Money for FQHCs has been bundled with funding for the National Health Services Corps, which provides loan repayments and education benefits for health care professionals who agree to practice in underserved areas, and with money for teaching health centers.
“This is unacceptable,” Sanders said in a statement. “The loss of these funds will have tragic consequences for Vermont and the nation and I will do everything I can to prevent that from happening.
“By delaying action on addressing the funding cliff, Congress is putting the well-being of millions of Americans in jeopardy. Community health centers have long had bipartisan support and I hope that my colleagues will work together to address this issue and expand funding for primary care around this country. I will do all that I can to ensure that every person, not only in Vermont, but in every state and territory, has reliable access to primary care,” Sanders said.
In the past, funding for FQHCs and the other programs has been tied in with funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, whose funding is also scheduled to run out at the end of the month. Van Haste told lawmakers a deal appeared to be close on extending the CHIP funding but without tying it to FQHC funding.
Meanwhile, state human services officials expressed confidence to the same legislative committee that the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program would be funded at the same level as last year. President Trump’s first budget called for completely eliminating the LIHEAP program. Committees in both the U.S. House and Senate have including full funding of LIHEAP in their respective spending bills.
Approximately 20,000 Vermont households are expected to benefit from the LIHEAP program with an average benefit of $879, according to Sean Brown, deputy commissioner in the Department for Children and Families, which administers the program. Between the federal allocation of $16 million, a $3.7 million carryover and $3 million in state funding, he said the state has $22.8 million for heating fuel assistance.
Sen. Patrick Leahy has requested federal authorities release the money to states in October as has been done in the past.
“As long as everything goes as scheduled…we’ll be in good shape to fund the program in the sequence that we normally provide the benefit,” Brown said.
Brown said officials anticipate a spike in all fuel prices because of Hurricane Irma but expect the rise to be short-lived.
Ken Schatz, the DCF commissioner, said slightly fewer Vermonters were expected to take part in the fuel assistance program, as well as several other state benefit programs, because unemployment is low and because of successful workforce development efforts.