This week, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney helped pass a package of appropriations bills with several Hudson Valley health care priorities Maloney championed. The package included increased funding for community health centers, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and health programs administered through the Department of Defense.
“This has a number of important wins for the health and wellbeing of folks in the Hudson Valley,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. “I’m proud to fight for things that are important to my friends and neighbors, like protecting rural health care and expanding access to opioid abuse treatment and prevention.”
Among several other priorities for the Hudson Valley, the “minibus” appropriations package includes funding for:
Community Health Centers
- Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has called for protecting and increasing funding for community health centers throughout Hudson Valley and New York state. These health centers serve rural, underinsured populations, and are often the only accessible health care facilities for many communities.
- This package will increase funding for community and rural health centers, many of which rely on federal funding, through 2020.
- This package will increase funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a dedicated agency within the Department of Health and Human Services created to reduce addiction and address mental health concerns.
- It will also allocate $3.8 billion to combat the opioid and drug epidemic nationwide. In 2017, over 70,000 Americans died from a drug overdose.
Increased Funding for Department of Defense Health programs
- Several cancer research, autism research and other medical research programs conducted through the Department of Defense will be funded for the upcoming fiscal year.
- The bill package will also add $155 million for psychological health and traumatic brain injury research for servicemembers, veterans and their families.
The bill package, H.R. 2740, consists of four appropriations bills that fund federal agencies including the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, and Energy through the year 2020.