U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has called on Congress to reauthorize funding for the Federally Qualified Health Centers and the Children”™s Health Insurance Program, which expired on Saturday with the close of fiscal year 2017.
The Connecticut Democrat accused the other side of the political aisle of intentionally forcing the programs to lose their funding.
“Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have violated the public trust and thrust the futures of our children and our communities into uncertainty,” he said. “Allowing funding for health centers and the CHIP program to lapse is political malpractice to the point of purposeful neglect, endangering a healthcare network that has taken years to construct.”
Adding that the health centers were “worth their weight in gold,” Blumenthal said not having these programs could be deadly to Connecticut.
“If this sabotage continues, the economic price will be tremendous and loss of life will be inevitable,” he warned, urging a bipartisan effort to revive the programs because, in his words, there was “nothing red or blue about saving lives.”
