Growing community health centers across New York State
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- New York State Health Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- New York, NY : New York State Health Foundation, December 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Community Health Centers Community Health Services New York United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, NYSHealth recognized that successful implementation of federal health reform would require expanded primary care capacity to both care for the influx of newly insured people and ensure a strong safety net for those who remained uninsured. It was estimated that 1.2 million more New Yorkers statewide would gain coverage as a result of the ACA, whereas 1.4 million could remain uninsured--many of whom would rely on community health centers (CHCs) for their primary care needs. Ranging from storefront clinics to large-scale operations running facilities across multiple sites in a region, CHCs can yield substantial cost savings to the health care system by reducing emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and other avoidable, costly care. Those that are federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are meeting high standards in quality of care and services offered, including primary care and dental, behavioral health, and preventive care services. CHCs were a cornerstone of the ACA's plan to develop primary care capacity, allocating $11 billion over five years to double CHC capacity nationally after the ACA was passed. But as the new health care law went into effect, many CHCs were already laboring with low margins and limited funding. The growing demand expected under the roll-out of the ACA would add to these struggles if CHCs did not take measures to grow their services, staff, or physical capacity. In New York State alone, there were approximately 60 FQHCs serving more than 1.4 million patients annually when the ACA was passed in 2010. By 2016, CHC patient volume increased 37% nationally and 54% in New York State (about 1.5 times the national rate). To meet this growing need by the newly insured for access to primary care services, NYSHealth issued two Requests for Proposals (RFPs), in 2011 and 2012, to support CHCs in New York State to take practical steps to care for more patients, expand existing sites, establish new sites, and/or increase the range of services provided, including behavioral health, dental, optometry, and pharmacy. Through these RFPs, titled "Promoting and Managing Growth at Primary Care Centers," grants of up to $100,000 were made available to FQHCs, FQHC look-alikes (organizations that meet all of the requirements for, but do not yet receive, federal grant funding), and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment centers in medically underserved regions of the State. By January 2013, NYSHealth had awarded 16 grants totaling $1.6 million through both RFPs to CHCs statewide.
- 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:
- 101770928 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101770928