| 1 | 1 | | 85R12167 RMA-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Lucio S.C.R. No. 40 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, In 2015, community health centers provided |
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| 7 | 7 | | essential primary medical care, dental, behavioral health, and |
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| 8 | 8 | | substance abuse services to more than 1.2 million Texans; of those |
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| 9 | 9 | | individuals, 40 percent lacked health insurance and 70 percent |
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| 10 | 10 | | lived at or below the poverty line; and |
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| 11 | 11 | | WHEREAS, The Lone Star State is home to some 450 community |
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| 12 | 12 | | health centers in 122 counties; dedicated to providing care to all |
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| 13 | 13 | | who need it, regardless of their ability to pay, those facilities |
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| 14 | 14 | | are annually visited by over 4.5 million patients, most of whom |
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| 15 | 15 | | would otherwise have to receive care in an emergency room; and |
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| 16 | 16 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers currently depend on |
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| 17 | 17 | | Medicaid as their largest source of reimbursement, as federal |
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| 18 | 18 | | grants subsidize the cost of treating uninsured patients; however, |
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| 19 | 19 | | 70 percent of federal funding for those facilities is set to expire |
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| 20 | 20 | | in September 2017, and without congressional action, many centers |
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| 21 | 21 | | will have to limit or discontinue services to residents in need; and |
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| 22 | 22 | | WHEREAS, An invaluable resource to the areas they serve, |
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| 23 | 23 | | community health centers have contributed immeasurably to the |
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| 24 | 24 | | health and well-being of millions of Texans, and it is necessary for |
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| 25 | 25 | | the federal government to continue supporting these important |
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| 26 | 26 | | efforts; now, therefore, be it |
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| 27 | 27 | | RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 28 | 28 | | hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to preserve |
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| 29 | 29 | | federal funding for community health centers and retain Medicaid |
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| 30 | 30 | | and Children's Health Insurance Program protections for the |
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| 31 | 31 | | centers; and, be it further |
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| 32 | 32 | | RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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| 33 | 33 | | copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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| 34 | 34 | | the president of the Senate and to the speaker of the House of |
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| 35 | 35 | | Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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| 36 | 36 | | members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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| 37 | 37 | | this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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| 38 | 38 | | memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |
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