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Federal Health Centers Program (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date June 13, 2008
Report Number RL32046
Report Type Report
Authors Barbara English, Knowledge Services Group
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
Summary:

This CRS report provides an overview of legislation designed to renew support for federal health centers and community clinics which fell under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service Act. "Health centers were first funded by the federal government as part of the War on Poverty in the mid-1960s. When the Economic Opportunity Act (P.L. 88-452) was phased out in the 1970s, about 100 neighborhood health centers were transferred to the Public Health Service and funded as community health centers beginning in 1975. Health centers under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (P.L. 87-838) include community health centers, migrant health centers, health centers for the homeless, and health centers for residents of public housing. In CY2006, there were 6,208 delivery sites serving more than 15 million clients with a total of 1,002 grantees.1 The clients are predominantly uninsured, underinsured, or are without access to health care providers. The Health Centers Consolidation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-299) consolidated funding for community health centers (CHCs) with similar programs in Section 330. Under this authority, health centers’ grants provide largely primary health care services to medically underserved populations. The act expired September 30, 2006. Two major Reauthorization bills were introduced in the 110th Congress: S. 901, the Health Care Safety Net Act (introduced March 15, 2007) was passed by the Senate Health Education and Labor Committee on November 14, 2007, and a written report was filed on March 12, 2008; and H.R. 1343, the Health Centers Renewal Act of 2007 (introduced March 6, 2007), was approved by the House Subcommittee on Health on April 23, 2008. The Health Centers Program was the focus of a multi-year initiative by President Bush to strengthen the health care safety net. Its goal was to establish new health centers in the poorest counties in the nation. In FY2008, the final year of the President’s initiative, an additional 340 sites (220 new sites and 120 expansions) were funded and total enrollment is expected to reach more than 16 million patients."