A new two-year budget deal was signed into law this morning. A vote was expected yesterday, but concerns about what the budget does and doesn’t include forced an overnight government shutdown. The budget agreement does come at a cost to health care, with offsets from public health and Medicaid. A cut to the to the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supports important public health activities like childhood lead poisoning prevention, vaccination and smoking cessation programs across the country, is troubling. We are still analyzing the cuts to Medicaid. But there are also significant health care wins included.

This budget deal finally provides the relief that community health centers (CHCs) have been anxiously awaiting. The Community Health Center Fund, created under the Affordable Care Act, provides 70% of federal CHC grant funding – a more stable source of grant funds than the annual appropriations process. Washington’s CHCs served over one million patients in 2016 at over 300 clinic locations.

In addition to the CHC funding extension, the new Continuing Resolution extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an additional six years (for 10 total), the Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting Program for five years, and provides disaster relief and additional Medicaid funding for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.