- Community Health Clinics Face Funding Cliff as Congress Fails to Act Tennessean by Holly Fletcher — Community health centers are girding to keep the fight for Congress to reauthorize funding going deeper into autumn as the funding cliff approaches — with no legislation teed up. Clinics, which serve the working poor, uninsured and homeless around the state, are set to lose 70 percent of 2018 funding if Congress doesn't pass legislation to help them. Funds are allocated on a rolling cycle starting January 1. For the cycle starting February 1, Congress would have to act by early December.