NEWARK, N.J. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which sets national health policy, today joined health care professionals at Newark Community Health Center to celebrate National Health Center Week. The senator, a champion of community health centers, underscored the importance of fully funding Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which offer a wide-range of high-quality health care services in communities throughout New Jersey.

“Combined with all the other provisions to lower everyday costs, the Inflation Reduction Act, as the bill is called, makes sure that more families here in Newark can afford to go to the doctor at the community health center closest to them. We did all this because we know that CHCs — and their staffs — know how hard it is to get care. You know that early detection and regular check-ups are the difference between catching something at Stage I vs Stage IV,” said Sen. Menendez. “And you know that, when it comes to the health and wellbeing of a community — especially uninsured and medically underserved communities — the work you do here matters. As your senior U.S. Senator, I see it as my job in Washington to support the work that goes on here at Newark Community Health.”

Just yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced nearly $90 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to community health centers across the country. New Jersey’s health centers are set to receive a combined total of $1,440,200, including $65,000 for Newark Community Health Center.

In New Jersey, 24 community health centers operate 135 sites, providing a wide randy of health care services to nearly 600,000 New Jerseyans.

Sen. Menendez was last at Newark Community Health Center in March when he announced his co-sponsorship of the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 permonth. Key provisions from this bill were included in the historic Inflation Reduction Act that passed the Senate on Sunday to reduce the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare. Unfortunately, Republicans blocked efforts to ensure this also benefited individuals with private insurance.

Sen. Menendez has long championed community health centers, recognizing their importance in low and middle income neighborhoods. In the ARP, the senator secured $7.6 billion for FQHCs, including $129,653,750 for FQHCs in New Jersey. In 2019, Sen. Menendez joined his colleagues in introducing theCommunity Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, which would provide a five-year extension of mandatory CHC funding. 

As an author of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Sen. Menendez championed an amendment that provided CHCs with $11 billion in mandatory funding over five years, expiring in 2015, for new and existing programs to expand access to health care services. Since 2015, Sen. Menendez has helped secure separate, two-year extensions for the program.

Sen. Menendez also supported an amendment included in the ACA’s final passage that requires private insurance plans on the exchange to fully reimburse FQHCs at no less than the same rate as Medicaid in order to ensure the economic vitality of community health centers and properly recognize them for the valuable role they play in the American health care system.

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