Repealing Mandatory Funding for School Health Center Construction

Floor Speech

* Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1214.

* School-based health centers are a critical component of our nation's health care safety net.

* More than 1,900 school-based health centers across the country provide access to care to nearly two million students.

* Centers in high schools in my district like Maine East, Evanston Township, and Sullivan and Senn in Chicago, ensure that students can get access to primary, mental, and dental health services.

* School-based health centers are often the only source of health care for many children and adolescents who would otherwise go without needed services, and services are provided regardless of students' ability to pay.

* They offer treatment to students who lack insurance or whose parents are unable to take time off work to take them to the doctor. They keep children from missing school, and they ensure that children's health care needs are met.

* Studies have shown that school-based health centers decrease emergency room visits and Medicaid expenditures while improving grades, school attendance, and graduation rates.

* The Affordable Care Act provides grants for construction, renovation, and equipment for school-based health centers to increase access--this bill denies access.

* If we are concerned about providing our children with access to health care--we must reject this bill.

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