Jul 10
2014
HHS Invests $100 Million in ACA Funding to Expand Access to Primary Care through New Community Health Centers
HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today the availability of $100 million from the Affordable Care Act to support an estimated 150 new health center sites across the country in 2015. New health center sites will increase access to comprehensive, affordable, high quality primary health care services in the communities that need it most. Later today, Secretary Burwell will also visit a Community Health Center in Decatur, Georgia to talk with its health care professionals about the important work they are doing to connect the community with high quality primary care.
“In communities across the country, Americans turn to their local Community Health Center for vital health care services that help them lead healthy, productive lives,” said Secretary Burwell. “That’s why it’s so important that the Affordable Care Act is supporting the expansion of health centers.”
The investment announced today will add to the more than 550 new health center sites that have opened in the last three years as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Today, nearly 1,300 health centers operate more than 9,200 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 21 million patients in every State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin. Health centers are also playing a critical role in helping the public learn about new coverage opportunities under the Affordable Care Act, by conducting outreach and enrollment activities that link individuals to affordable coverage options available through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
“Since last fall, health centers have provided enrollment assistance to more than 4.7 million people across the country,” said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. “We are pleased that the Affordable Care Act is supporting the establishment of additional health center sites to provide expanded opportunities for the newly insured to receive care.”
To learn more about this funding opportunity, visit http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/assistance/nap/.
To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, visit www.HealthCare.gov.
To learn more about HRSA’s Health Center Program, visit http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/index.html.
To find a health center in your area, visit http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov.