|
legislative
alert
Funding
for
Family
Medicine
Training
in
Jeopardy
Contact
your
senators
and
representative
today!
Labor/HHS
conferees
have
agreed
to
spending
levels
that
are
devastating
to
family
medicine
training
programs.
They
need
to
go
back
to
the
drawing
board
and
revise
the
bill
to
include
increased
funding
levels
for
critical
health
programs.
Action
Needed:
- BY
FRIDAY,
NOVEMBER
18,
please
call
your
Representative
and
both
Senators
at
202/224-3121
and
urge
them
to
vote
NO
on
the
Labor/HHS
conference
report.
Identify
yourself
as
a
constituent.
Each
Member
of
Congress
and
Senator
will
vote
on
the
conference
report
in
the
next
few
days.
- If
you
have
a
personal
relationship
with
the
Member
or
Senators,
please
try
to
speak
with
them
directly.
Otherwise
ask
to
speak
with
the
health
LA
(legislative
assistant).
Please
do
not
just
leave
a
message
with
the
receptionist.
- Alternatively,
you
can
send
an
email
to
your
Senator
or
Representative
using
the
AAFP
Speak
Out
system
at
http://capitol.aafp.org/aafp/issues/alert/?alertid=8247656&type=CU.
Background:
Section
747,
which
includes
dollars
for
family
medicine
training,
received
a
68.3
percent
cut
in
funding
(a
drop
from
$88.8
million
to
$28.2
million)
in
the
Labor/HHS
Conference
report.
All
of
Title
VII
health
professions
programs
(non-nursing)
received
a
cut
of
67.5
percent
(from
$299.6
million
to
$97.4
million).
Other
programs
received
similar
or
deeper
cuts.
Geriatrics
programs
and
Rural
Health
Research
were
zeroed
out.
Area
Health
Education
Centers
(AHECS)
received
a
93.1
percent
cut,
while
Rural
Outreach
grants
were
cut
by
72.6
percent.
We
are
pleased
that
the
Agency
for
Healthcare
Research
Quality
(AHRQ)
did
relatively
well
in
comparison
and
received
level
funding.
(We
think
it
will
do
as
well
in
another
iteration
of
this
bill
since
it
has
strong
support
in
Congress
and
in
the
Administration.)
Talking
Points
for
a
Phone
Call
with
your
Representative:
- The
bill
as
it
stands
is
unacceptable.
Vote
NO
on
the
Labor/HHS
conference
report.
- Conferees
must
go
back
and
revise
the
bill
so
that
funds
are
restored
to
key
programs
such
as
the
Section
747
primary
care
health
professions
cluster.
- Now
is
not
the
time
to
cut
funds
for
family
physician
training.
Family
physicians
will
be
frontline
responders
in
a
future
natural
disaster
or
pandemic
flu
crisis.
- Family
physicians
staff
the
nation's
community
health
centers.
Since
nearly
one-half
of
the
physicians
who
staff
the
nation's
Community
Health
Centers
are
family
physicians,
support
for
Section
747
would
mean
more
trained
doctors
for
those
centers.
- Family
physicians
have
an
economic
impact
on
states.
On
average,
the
impact
due
to
the
presence
of
one
family
physician,
and
the
additional
jobs
that
result
from
his
or
her
practice,
amounts
to
approximately:
- $1.2
million
in
rural
areas,
and,
- $0.9
million
in
urban
areas.
(Oklahoma
Physician
Manpower
Training
Commission,
October
2003.)
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
efforts.
Please
send
any
response
you
receive
to
Susan
Hildebrandt
at
title_vii@aafp.org.
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