Royaakbari Health

Posts Tagged ‘funding’

For almost 35 years, the law of the land has been an explicit prohibition against federal taxpayer dollars being used to pay for elective abortions, known as the Hyde amendment, after the late great Illinois congressman. This is a policy supported by the majority of the American people.

In fact, this hard-fought explicit ban was included in the health care bill that passed the House last year. Regrettably, the Senate did not follow suit and instead passed a bill that would allow hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortion. That is a simple fact. Unfortunately, in a mad rush to secure enough votes, leading House Democrats now intend to take up the Senate-passed bill, arguing that the Senate language prohibits federal funding of abortion. Besides that fact that this simply not true, it also demonstrates the lengths the president and his allies will take to pass this bill against the will of the American people.

Just this week, Cardinal Francis George, president of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying, “Notwithstanding the denials and explanations of its supporters, and unlike the bill approved by the House of Representatives in November, the Senate bill deliberately excludes the language of the Hyde amendment. It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures. “

First, the Senate bill allows elective abortions to be offered through the newly-created individual state health insurance exchanges and multi-state health plans administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and through federally-subsidized plans in already-existing community health centers.

Second, there is nothing in this legislation that requires any of these programs to live up to both the spirit and letter of the Hyde amendment that Congress has included each year in spending bills that fund the government. This not only prevents federal funding of elective abortions, but also erects an iron-clad firewall against any private money for abortion being mixed with any federal or state health program receiving federal dollars. This applies, for example, to Medicaid, a health program for the economically disadvantaged that is funded by both federal and state governments. If any resources are used for elective abortions that money must be kept completely separate from Medicaid. This is sound policy that must be maintained.

Regrettably, the Senate-passed bill doesn’t include this firewall. Anyone who doesn’t earn enough money would qualify for a federal subsidy to help pay for their health plan in the state exchanges, including plans offering elective abortion coverage. Some argue that under the Senate-passed bill, federal funding would be “segregated” so no federal money would pay for abortions. But this is a violation of the Hyde amendment, which also prevents the federal funding of insurance that covers elective abortion.

Furthermore, it is entirely possible that there would only be one health plan in any given state that does not include elective abortion. And even if you are opposed, you may well be railroaded into choosing a plan that covers it, because you might be looking for the best plan to treat a sick child or your own health condition.

What’s more, passing a new state law is the only way an individual state could truly ensure that elective abortions are not included in the plans offered through a state insurance exchange. That would be easier in some states than in others, but that’s unfair to those who are morally opposed to federal funding of abortion and happen to live in states where passing such a law would be extremely difficult.

Lastly, under this proposal, community health centers would receive a dedicated stream of money outside the annual congressional process to fund the government which is where the Hyde prohibition is maintained. So that means that for the first time federal money could be used to fund abortion at a community health center.

Those are the facts, and anyone who thinks the Senate abortion language is strong enough should think again. That is because, regardless of one’s position on this controversial issue, it is entirely reasonable to expect that a person who is fundamentally and morally opposed to abortion should not have to sanction its use with their hard-earned tax payer dollars.

An Iowa health care provider is one of 85 community health centers nationwide to receive a significant monetary boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Barack Obama announced Wednesday.

“… Funding for construction, technology and a medical home demonstration project won’t just save more money, and create more jobs, they’ll give more people the peace of mind of knowing that health care will be there for them and their families when they need it. Ultimately, that’s what health reform is really all about,” Obama said.

Primary Health Care Inc. of Des Moines is slated to receive more than $2. 6 million. The nonprofit organization maintains dental and medical clinics in Des Moines as well as a community access pharmacy, HIV services and outreach project. It also operates a medical and dental clinic in Marshalltown.

Although the clinics provide services to patients who have insurance, they specifically cater to those who are uninsured or underinsured. According to their Web site, Primary Health Care Inc. strives “to find and successfully treat medical condition before they become serious enough to require hospitalization or emergency treatment. ”

It has also developed several specialized programs.

The Outreach Program specifically targets populations that often fall through the cracks in existing health care.

Health Care for the Homeless is a federally funded program that serves individual, families, street youth and homeless children in a non-traditional clinic setting. A federally-funded program called Enhancement provides mental health and substance abuse care for homeless clients.

The organization has also developed a four-point program for maternal child health that consists of a combination of state and federally-funded programs to provide service to pregnant women, newly expanding families and newborns up to age 6. Their Families in Transition program, which is funded through U. S. Housing and Urban Development, serves both prenatal or parenting families up to a child’s 15th birthday, and allows case workers to link homeless individuals to medical and mental health services as well as affordable and safe living environments.

Clinics that participate in the Outreach Program are located in six different sites throughout Des Moines, placing them within the areas of the community that are experiencing the most need.

To qualify for funding, the health facility had to be a federally-qualified community health center. Grants of $508. 5 million were provided through the Facility Investment Program to address pressing health center facility needs. Also, as much as $88 million was made available to help Health Center Controlled Networks improve operational effectiveness and clinical quality in health centers by providing management, financial, technology and clinical support services.

The new Recovery Act funds are the latest in a series of grants awarded to community health centers, which deliver preventive and primary care services nationally at more than 7,500 service delivery sites around the country to patients regardless of their ability to pay.   Across the country health centers serve more than 17 million patients, about 40 percent of whom have no health insurance.