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Sample Letter to Members of Congress Protesting Cuts to the Health Professions Programs in the FY 2004 Budget

July --, 2003

Dear Member:

I write to urge you to stop the elimination of the Title VII health professions programs, as proposed in the FY 2004 Labor, HHS, Education appropriations bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 26. The bill allocates just $21 million for all of the Title VII health professions programs that received $308.4 million last year, a 93 percent decrease. This cut would eliminate almost all of the programs, devastating programs at my institution that educate and train health professionals and bring quality care to the community. [Insert impact of the elimination of funds on your Title VII program.]

The Senate Appropriations Committee's budget has proposed a devastating cut to the Title VII and VIII health professions and nursing education programs, providing just $133 million total for programs in FY 2004, which received $421 million last year. Of this total, only $21 million is provided to Title VII. This cut in funding would decimate the Title VII health professions programs, which provide an essential and stable infrastructure for the training and education of health professionals. The House Appropriations Committee has provided $391 million for the programs, a 7.1 percent cut below last year. I believe any decreases could hamper the programs' ability to continue to prepare health professionals to care for the neediest populations. I urge you to restore funding to the Title VII and VIII health professions programs to at least the FY 2003 level of $421 million.

The geographic, economic, and cultural barriers within the country's health care delivery system need to be addressed to achieve access to health care for all Americans. To begin to eliminate these problems, health care professionals must be recruited, trained, and retained to serve in medically underserved areas. In 1998, 42 to 56 percent of graduates from the Title VII-supported primary care programs entered practice in underserved areas, compared to a mean of 10 percent of health professions graduates overall. Data from 1998 also indicate that 35 to 50 percent of graduates of these programs represented minority or disadvantaged groups, compared to 10 percent minority representation overall.

A top priority for many Americans is access to quality health care, and health professions and nursing education programs are critical elements in providing this access. I urge you to save the health professions and nursing education programs by stopping the proposed cuts and supporting the restoration of the programs' funds in the FY 2004 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill.

Sincerely,