The AAMC Oct. 18 joined 74 other organizations on a letter urging House and Senate appropriators to restore the cuts proposed in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee spending bills [see Washington Highlights, July 15] and provide $7.48 billion for discretionary Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs.
The Friends of HRSA request of $7.48 billion would return HRSA’s discretionary budget authority to the fiscal year (FY) 2010 level.
The community letter urges committee leaders to “restore the funding cuts to the HRSA programs that were included in the bills passed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committee,” including the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP). The letter adds that HRSA “administers programs that focus on improving care for millions of Americans, who are medically underserved or face barriers to needed care, by strengthening the health workforce and increasing access to quality health services.”