In January, Congress narrowly avoided the much talked about “Fiscal Cliff” by pushing back deadlines. Now those fiscal deadlines are quickly approaching again. What does that mean for Indianapolis? A lot!
Under HR 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the “sequester” – or across-the-board cut for all government programs – was delayed for two months, setting the new deadline for March 1, less than three weeks away!
The impact of the sequester on health centers in Indianapolis and across the country will be significant.
If the sequester is not delayed or replaced, the Health Centers Program will face a cut of $115 million, which means that approximately 900,000 patients will lose access to care at a Health Center – both existing and potential new patients, the National Association of Community Health Centers reports.
Virtually all existing health centers could expect to see the impact on their federal health center grants. These potential cuts will curb the growth of the Health Center program by limiting expansion to meet the needs of the newly insured. These cuts will also jeopardize the stability of current health centers by reducing annual funding for the program.
Failure to avert the sequester will have an immediate impact on health centers’ ability to serve the patients in our community.
It is critical that Congress find a way to avert the sequester to ensure that health centers have the continued ability to serve patients in need, improve health outcomes and reduce health care expenditures.
We know that federal spending is going to be cut; the question is how it will be done and what programs will suffer the most.
If you want to have any influence on those decisions, you need to act NOW by calling and emailing your Members of Congress. They need to hear from YOU and as many other advocates like you as possible to make sure they get the message that they need to protect health centers and the patients they serve!
EMAIL your Members of Congress TODAY to let them know what’s at stake for your health center and the patients it serves if they fail to stop the sequester immediately.
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