WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement following the HELP Committee Chair’s announcement that the markup of his Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act will be postponed until September. The markup on his legislation was previously scheduled for this Wednesday.
“We need to reauthorize these critical programs to ensure funding for community health centers, teaching health center graduate medical education, and the National Health Service Corps,” said Dr. Cassidy. “There’s bipartisan legislation, which unanimously passed out of committee in the House. It gives us a basis to proceed and allows us to complete the legislation and to pass before the end of the fiscal year. We should consider this legislation this week. Any amendments the chair or anyone else wish to make can be placed upon this bill. It is the responsible thing to do.”
This month, Cassidy introduced legislation last week to reauthorize the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF), the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME), which all expire on September 30th. Cassidy’s legislation mirrors that which the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee passed in May with a unanimously bipartisan vote of 49-0.