The Community Health Center Fund: In Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised May 13, 2019 |
| Report Number |
R43911 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Elayne J. Heisler, Specialist in Health Services |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
The Health Center Program, which is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services, awards grants to outpatient health care facilities that provide care to medically underserved populations.1 The program’s annual funding has more than tripled between FY2002 and FY2016, increasing from $1.3 billion to $5.1 billion. This funding increase—a result of both increases in annual discretionary appropriations and supplemental funding2—has resulted in more health centers, more patients seen and more services available to these patients.3 The program’s funding increase is due, in part, to the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF),4 a mandatory multibillion dollar fund established in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148, as amended). This fund is available between FY2011 and FY2017. It was intended to increase health center appropriations above the level the program received in FY2008;5 however, the CHCF has partially supplanted annual appropriations since it began. The CHCF also supports the National Health Service Corps, a scholarship and loan repayment program that places providers in underserved areas including at health centers. Since FY2012, the CHCF has been that program’s sole funding source.6
CHCF funds have been used for a range of health center activities including funding new health centers, increasing services provided at existing health centers, and implementing care coordination initiatives.7 The CHCF represents more than 70% of the Health Center Program’s FY2016 funding. Funding for the CHCF was extended in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA, P.L. 114-10), which provided $3.6 billion to support health center operations in each of FY2016 and FY2017 (a total of $7.2 billion). This report provides information on the CHCF. Specifically, it includes information on the types of grants awarded, total funds disbursed, and the amount of CHCF funds that centers in each state and territory received.
