Durbin Meets With Illinois Primary Health Care Association
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with the Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) to discuss workforce shortages in the health care sector, and funding to ensure Illinoisans can continue to get the high quality, affordable care they need. One in nine patients in Illinois are served by community health centers across urban, suburban, and rural parts of the state—providing primary, behavioral, and even dental health care to patients regardless of their income. They also discussed the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which promotes prescription drug affordability and the ability of health centers to serve their communities. All community health centers rely upon the federal 340B program to purchase drugs at a major discount on behalf of their patients.
“Our health care professionals put their all into caring for their patients, but the demands of the pandemic have exacerbated workforce shortages, especially in our underserved rural and urban communities,” said Durbin. “I’m thankful IPHCA continues to advocate for our underserved communities and I always enjoy meeting with them to discuss ways to equip them with the funds they need.”
In the American Rescue Plan, Durbin secured $1 billion for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship and loan repayment awards to recruit more doctors, nurses, dentists, and behavioral health providers to underserved rural and urban areas.
A photo of the meeting can be found here.
-30-
Previous Article Next Article