HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today approximately $101 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 164 new health center sites across 33 states and two U.S. Territories for the delivery of comprehensive primary health care services in communities that need them most. These new health centers are projected to increase access to health care services for nearly 650,000 patients.
Investment Details
This investment announced today will add to the more than 550 new health center sites that have opened in the last four years as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Today, nearly 1,300 health centers operate more than 9,000 service delivery sites that provide care to nearly 22 million patients –nearly 5 million more patients than at the beginning of 2009.
Health centers have also been critical in helping people sign up for health insurance through the Marketplace. Since 2013, health centers assisted more than 9 million individuals in their efforts to become insured.
“More people have insurance in the United States than ever before,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Jim Macrae. “Health centers provide an accessible and dependable source of culturally competent primary care for many of the newly insured.”
The recently enacted bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act builds on this progress by extending mandatory funding for health centers in fiscal years 2016 and 2017.
To see a list of award winners, visit www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2015tables/newaccesspoints/
