A win-win at the community level

Community Health Centers (Federally-Qualified Health Centers) have been known to be a program worthy of modeling, and now Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has expressed his belief in this model in a compelling article published in The Hill.  He clearly articulates the national impact that can be made by expanding the Community Health Center model to increase access to health care.  Below is an excerpt:

For a relatively small amount of money, we can provide primary healthcare to every American in need of it through an expansion of the successful Federally Qualified Health Center program. On a budget of only $2 billion a year, this program, which has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support, now provides primary healthcare, dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost prescription drugs to 17 million people through 1,100 health center organizations in every region of the country for an average cost of $125 per patient per year. The doors of these centers are open to all, including patients with Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance or no insurance at all, with sliding-scale fees.

Today, another 800 Federally Qualified Health Centers already have been approved but have not been funded because of inadequate resources. The simple and very important truth is that, if we fund these 800 already-approved centers and an additional 2,900 centers over the next five years, we could provide primary healthcare to every American in need of it. In other words, for a total of $8.3 billion a year, we could have 4,800 centers caring for 56 million people in every medically underserved region of the country. 

Click here to view the full article.