Community health centers continue steady growth, but challenges loom
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Policy issue brief (Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative)
- Author(s):
- Sharac, Jessica, author Shin, Peter, author Rosenbaum, Sara, author Handarov, Teodor, author
- Contributor(s):
- Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative issuing body. Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, issuing body. George Washington University, issuing body. Milken Institute School of Public Health, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, September 2019
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Community Health Centers -- economics Community Health Centers -- statistics & numerical data Community Health Services -- trends Community Health Services -- economics Community Health Services -- statistics & numerical data Community Health Services -- trends Community Mental Health Services -- statistics & numerical data Community Mental Health Services -- trends Demography Dental Health Services -- statistics & numerical data Forecasting Income Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data Insurance Coverage -- trends Insurance, Health -- statistics & numerical data Insurance, Health -- trends Medicaid -- statistics & numerical data Medically Uninsured -- statistics & numerical data Medicare -- statistics & numerical data Poverty State Government Humans United States State Children's Health Insurance Program (U.S.)
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- In 2018, 1,362 health centers operating in over 11,700 locations cared for more than 28 million patients--one in 12 people nationwide, one in three poor people, and one in five rural residents. The number of patients served by health centers has tripled since 2000. Between 2013 and 2018, the percentage of uninsured patients declined to less than one quarter nationally (23 percent). Medicaid expansion largely accounts for this decline; in 2018, Medicaid insured nearly half (48 percent) of all health center patients. However, these national estimates mask key differences between expansion and non-expansion states; in 2018, 35 percent of health center patients in non-expansion states were uninsured, a rate virtually twice as high as in expansion states. Like all providers, health centers grow when revenue rises; as a result, with a higher uninsured population, community health centers in non-expansion states serve fewer patients, employ fewer staff, and offer more limited services. Health centers are highly vulnerable to federal policies affecting Medicaid and grant programs to improve health care for underserved populations. One area of current uncertainty is the Community Health Center Fund, which accounts for over 70 percent of federal health center grant funding and must be extended in 2019. The public charge rule holds key implications for health centers serving communities with sizable immigrant populations, found throughout the U.S. Also important to one in four health centers is the Title X family planning program; recent federal rules bar health centers from appropriately communicating with their patients, raising serious implications for their continued participation. Finally, Medicaid subsection 1115 experiments that restrict eligibility and coverage threaten both patients and health centers.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (14 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101755921 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101755921