Congress has yet to renew long-term federal funding for community health centers, according to The Hill.
Here are seven things to know.
1. Community health centers serve more than 27 million people in 9,800 rural and urban U.S. communities, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.
2. Funding for community health centers expired Sept. 30. Since that time, Congress has not taken action on long-term renewal of funding.
3. The House passed a two-year funding measure for community health centers in 2017, but the bill did not make it through the Senate, according to The Hill. Funding for community health centers was also not part of a short-term bill that reopened the federal government.
4. If Congress fails to renew long-term funding, community health centers worry they will face various problems.
"Health center advocates and other supporters are continuing to emphasize with congressional leaders the critical need for health center funding to be renewed ASAP to avoid severe consequences to health center operations and their ability to serve patients, especially during a major flu epidemic and opioid crisis," Amy Simmons, a spokesperson for the NACHC said, according to the report.
5. According to the report, some community health centers have already been forced to delay expansion plans or lay off employees.
6. Funding for community health centers could potentially be part of a long-term spending bill.
7. Meanwhile, The Hill reported HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration provided some short-term funding to community health centers whose grants expired early in 2018.
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