Call to Action - 1st Draft Heroes Act Legislation Omits Look-Alikes

Months ago, we posted that the proposed Heroes Act legislation (round 4 of COVID-related stimulus funding) would include Look-Alikes. Sadly, we were wrong. Upon closer inspection, the draft legislation requests an additional $7.6 billion in funds for community health center grantees (under Section 330 of the Public Health Services Act) and Rural Health Centers (under Section 1861(aa)(4)(B) of the Social Security Act). FQHC Look-Alikes fall under Section 1905(l)(2)(B) and therefore are not included in this proposal.

HRSA confirmed Look-Alikes are not included in this draft legislation the 14th of July during Jim Macrae’s Today With Macrae webinar series. On the 15th of July, during the Grants Management webinar for one-time LAL-ECT funding, Look-Alikes voiced a need for future funding and the support of HRSA in advocating their unique circumstances. HRSA representatives replied, stating they are prohibited from advocating for health centers and promptly ended the Q &A session.

While President Trump has declared the initial draft of the Hereos Act “dead on arrival,” it is still subject to amendments before it can pass a Republican controlled Senate. Look-Alikes, this is your call to action. Contact your Senators and ask they support an amendment to include community health center Look-Alikes under Section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act. This can easily be added following mention of rural health clinics on Page 66, line 23 of the draft legislation.

We understand HRSA will not be our advocate, just our administrator. But we now know they are fully capable of administering these grant funds. As we struggle to make ends meet, we are now asked to adhere to more compliance requirements. This will demand more of our finance departments and complicate our Operational Site Visits. But with additional COVID funding, we can free the resources we need to meet these challenges.