Dear Representative/Senator:

I urge you to include $550 million for Title VII and Title VIII health professions programs in your FY04 priority wish list to the Appropriations Committee. Of that amount, $169 million should be directed to Title VII, Section 747. Section 747 authorizes the Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry cluster, which includes support for family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, physician assistants, and general and pediatric dentistry. This figure includes $96 million for family medicine programs.

Section 747 was zeroed out in the President’s budget. However, it is the only federal program that is specifically designed to increase the number of primary care physicians, and increase the number of individuals who provide health care to underserved populations. This program is increasingly important in light of emerging public health threats, and the growing number of Community Health Centers that depend on the care that family physicians provide.

Health professions training programs are critical in our state and across the country. *************ADD LOCAL OR REGIONAL INFORMATION HERE*********

Research confirms that Section 747 is successful in achieving its goals. Section 747 funded schools and programs produce an increased number of physicians choosing primary care, and an increased number of physicians who provide health care to the underserved, including rural areas. A loss of Title VII funds would hurt the programs that help to produce physicians who provide care to those who need it the most. Without family physicians, people across the United States would not receive essential primary care services.

Title VII dollars have created an infrastructure that allows educational programs to respond to contemporary health care issues. According to the Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry, “Primary care training programs are ideally positioned to react quickly to meet ever-changing health care needs and issues, whether they are related to HIV/AIDS, growing numbers of elderly with chronic illnesses, implications of the modern genetics revolution, the threat of bioterrorism, or other issues that will continue to emerge and demand rapid educational intervention. Thus, this infrastructure is uniquely able to play a pivotal role in bringing emerging issues in health care to the population at large.”

Given the many current threats that face the American health care system, now is not the time to cut funding for programs that work, and are needed. I respectfully request that you include Title VII, Section 747 health programs in your priority wish list to the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee chair.

Sincerely,