Federal Grant Funding

The primary form of federal funding for community health centers is the Health Center Program, which is authorized in Section 330 of the Public Health Services Act. More commonly known as the “330 Grant,” funding for the Health Center Program comes from a combination of discretionary funding, appropriated by Congress each year, and mandatory funding from the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF).

Discretionary Funding (blue bars):

Since FY2013, annual discretionary funding provided by Congress for health centers has been level at roughly $1.5 Billion. In March 2018, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which boosted FY18 discretionary funding to $1.6 Billion. In September 2018, Congress extended that level of funding through Fiscal Year 2019.

Every year health center champions circulate Dear Colleague letters in both the House and Senate that Members of Congress can sign to show their support for health centers in the appropriations process. The most recent round of Dear Colleague letters are included in the list of resources.

Mandatory Funding (orange bars):

In 2010, Congress created the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) to support the expansion of health centers. Congress then extended the CHCF for two years with the passage of MACRA in 2015. More recently, in February 2018, Congress once again extended the CHCF for two years with bipartisan support through the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The CHCF is currently set to expire on September 30, 2019 – Congress must once again take action to avert a lapse in funding before the end of the fiscal year. Below is a list of current legislation introduced in the 116th Congress to extend federal mandatory funding for the CHCF:

S. 106/H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act of 2019
S. 192, Community and Public Health Programs Extension Act
S. 962/H.R. 1943, Community Health Center and Primary Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2019