1 in 10 people get primary care at community health centers

Community health centers have unprecedented reach

The report, which is based on federal data, showed that community health centers served 34 million people this year. That's about a million more people than they served last year, according to NACHC, and the largest-ever population served by community health centers.

Community health centers are local safety-net clinics set up in 1965 to support healthcare access and primary care for low-income and other traditionally underserved populations. Often called federally qualified health centers, community health centers represent the nation's largest primary care network, according to NACHC.

"We are excited to celebrate 60 years of Community Health Centers delivering affordable, effective, comprehensive primary care services to an unprecedented almost 34 million patients, or one in 10 Americans, including at least one in five rural Americans," Rhee, M.D., M.P.P., the president and CEO of NACHC, said in a statement. "With a workforce of 326,000 operating in over 17,000 delivery sites, CHCs prevent and treat chronic diseases, reduce overall health care costs and generate jobs in their communities."

Although community health centers provide primary care to about a tenth of the U.S. population, they only represent about 1% of overall healthcare spending, NACHC added.

OBBBA threatens revenue stream for community clinics

Amid those thin margins, CHCs nationwide are gearing up for considerable funding cuts at the hands of the OBBBA, signed into law on July 4th. The law targets certain healthcare funding streams, including Medicaid funding and enrollment, which will inevitably result in revenue cuts for clinics nationwide, NACHC said.

All said, NACHC projected that community health centers will lose about $7 billion annually due to a rise in uncompensated care. That would be an estimated $13 billion in total economic impact.

The downstream impacts of those revenue hits will be pronounced, NACHC continued.

According to the organization, there will likely be around 34,000 job losses and at least 1,800 clinic closures due to the law. Workforce shortages and site closures will have a downstream effect on the patient, with NACHC projecting about 5,000-6,000 preventable patient deaths annually.

Sara Heath has reported news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.