As our state & country move forward on implementing provisions in the federal healthcare reform bill that was passed in March, it should be mentioned that certain provisions were funded while others were merely authorized. Provisions that are authorized will have to wait, beg, and/or plead to be funded by the Appropriations Committee. While I don’t have a timeline to share with you as to when this may or may not happen, I do have a list from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the provisions that were only authorized by Congress. Unfortunately, a large portion of these authorized provisions are focused on rural and healthcare workforce issues. As implementation moves forward, I will be encouraging all of us to contact our Congressional leaders and implore them to fund the following critical pieces of healthcare reform that would dramatically increase access to healthcare services in rural & underserved areas.

Title V
5102 – State Healthcare Workforce Development: Planning Grants & Implementation
5103 – Workforce Assessment: National Center; State & Regional Centers
5203 – Healthcare workforce loan repayment program: Pediatric Medical & Surgical; Pediatric Behavioral
5204 – Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program
5208 – Nurse Managed Health Clinics
5403 – Area Health Education Centers: Continuing Educational Support for Health Professionals in Underserved Communities
5601 – FQHC Grants