Research briefs analyze health centers' and Medicaid's role in growth

Two new policy research briefs analyze health centers' growth over the past two decades and Medicaid's role in propelling and sustaining that growth. The analyses chronicle federal health center growth initiatives pursued by Republican and Democratic Administrations alike, as well as the 2011 retrenchment in the growth trajectory. The studies also document the relationship between more expansive Medicaid coverage policies for low income adults and more robust health center size, staffing, and patient care capacity.

Community Health Centers: The Challenge of Growing to Meet the Need for Primary Care in Medically Underserved Communities, profiles health centers and the patients they serve, health center financing, and the history of health center growth. It closely examines the recent reduction in both federal appropriations and state trends in health care financing. In addition, the analysis looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities health centers face as the nation prepares for 2014, when the Affordable Care Act will be fully implemented.

Medicaid and Community Health Centers: the Relationship between Coverage for Adults and Primary Care Capacity in Medically Underserved Communities, assesses how Medicaid influences health center practice, using a series of measures to compare health center strength in states with and without expanded Medicaid coverage for adults. The measures focus on patient volume and growth, staffing, and overall financial strength. The analysis sheds important light on the implications of broader Medicaid coverage for health centers' ability to build high quality primary care access in all medically underserved communities.

Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and a study co-author, highlighted the combined implications of the two reports. "Together these two analyses point to the sensitivity of health centers to government investments in health care access. As investments grow, so does health centers' ability to create cost effective primary care homes for their communities."

"Community health centers are the core of the safety net, providing comprehensive high quality, patient-centered care in urban and rural communities across the country," added Julio Bellber, President and CEO of the RCHN Community Health Foundation, which supports the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services. "This new research demonstrates that expanded Medicaid coverage, along with restored federal appropriations, is essential to improving access and enhancing health center capacity."

The analyses are a collaboration between GW's Geiger Gibson Program and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. The Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative is a multi-faceted academic training and research initiative created in 2007 through a gift from the RCHN Community Health Foundation. Both briefs can be accessed by clicking: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/
healthpolicy/dhp_publications/pub_uploads/dhpPublication_3B043800-5056-9D20-3D5DCAA18AC4BD43.pdf

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http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/
healthpolicy/dhp_publications/pub_uploads/dhpPublication_3AFD5C1C-5056-9D20-3DCF11B9D34861EB.pdf