Title VII
Action Alert
Please Call Your Senator by Thursday, May 3rd
Background: The Senate Appropriations Committee is drafting the fiscal year 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which includes funding for Title VII health professions programs. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) are circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter asking fellow Senators to restore funding to all programs under Title VII to FY05 levels. The letter urges appropriators to restore funding in the FY08 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill to $300 million. The primary care cluster of Title VII would be restored to $88.8 million. Action Needed:
- See the list below to find out if your Senator has signed onto the Reed-Roberts Dear Colleague letter.
- If your Senator has NOT signed on, please call him or her by this Thursday, May 3, and ask them to sign onto the Reed-Roberts Dear Colleague letter that recommends restored funding for health professions programs.
- Your Senator may contact Jessica Gerrity with Senator Jack Reed at (202) 224-3249 or Jennifer Swenson with Senator Roberts at (202) 224-4774 to sign on the letter.
Senate Signatures as of May 2nd Democrats: - Sen. Reed (RI)
- Sen. Mikulski (MD)
- Sen. Obama (IL)
- Sen. Stabenow (MI)
- Sen. Wyden (OR)
- Sen. Levin (MI)
- Sen. Brown (OH)
- Sen. Durbin (IL)
- Sen. Akaka (HI)
- Sen. Whitehouse (RI)
- Sen. Schumer (NY)
- Sen. Feinstein (CA)
Republicans: - Sen. Roberts (KS)
- Sen. Lugar (IN)
Reminder: - If you have a personal relationship with your Representative, please try to speak with them directly; otherwise call to speak with the health LA (legislative assistant). Do not just leave a message with the receptionist. Remember, persistence pays!
Talking Points: As a constituent, I urge Senator_________ to sign onto the Reed-Roberts Dear Colleague letter which recommends restored funding for health professions programs and attempts to restore the Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry Cluster to FY 2005 levels of $88.8 million. As a result of this low funding level, no new grants were made in FY06. A survey of Chairs of departments of family medicine asked about the impact of the large loss of funding. Only one-third of the departments expected little or no impact due to the loss of funds. Almost two-thirds felt there would be a substantial impact on their academic missions, and over half felt they would have to reduce faculty salaries, lay off staff, or lay off faculty. A March 1, 2006 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that in 2004, CHCs were understaffed and could not fill all clinical positions (Rosenblatt, et al.). Rural health centers had more openings that took longer to fill than those in urban areas. The JAMA article also shows more than 13 percent of family physician positions at CHCs were vacant. This is critical since primary care physicians make up nearly 90 percent of doctors working in CHCs -- and most are family physicians.
Almost 4,000 family physicians and general practitioners were exposed to Title VII funding during medical school and subsequently chose to work in a CHC. (UCSF and Graham Center pre-publication report) Without this exposure, we would anticipate at least 750 fewer family physicians would have been working in a CHC in 2003. This would bring family physician vacancies in CHCs to over 1,300. Without funding for primary care training, we can expect fewer family physicians who will work in CHCs and serve in the NHS Corps, so please increase funding for a program that helps meet the President’s priorities. Without a restoration to FY05 levels, the current Title VII programs cannot adequately prepare our next generation of medical professionals for the future. |
