Access to Affordable Health Care Critical to Health Care Reform

Currently millions of Americans and thousands of Arkansans are without health insurance. It is important to note, however, that 60 million Americans and more than 500,000 Arkansans also lack access to basic primary and preventive health care services. For any health care reform to have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of Americans, it must include provisions to increase access to high-quality and affordable health care and ensure a strong primary care workforce to meet the growing demand for health care services. The Public Health Investment Fund contains critically important investments in health care access including $12 billion in NEW, guaranteed funding for Community Health Centers over the next five years. This provision must be included in the final bill that goes to the President’s desk.

Community Health Centers (CHCs) stand as exemplary partners in health care reform. CHCs assure equal access to high-quality and affordable preventive and primary health care services, improve the quality of life and overall health of community members, achieve measurable cost savings throughout the entire system, and bring a positive economic impact to the communities they serve.

The health and well-being of our communities depend heavily upon every individual having equal access to a full range of affordable and high-quality primary and preventive health care and support services in their own communities. CHCs serve communities that are medically underserved, who would otherwise have limited or no access to local health care providers. The care received in a CHC is patient and family centered, coordinated, continuous, and proven to yield better health outcomes, remove barriers to needed care, and minimize health disparities.

Thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans currently suffer from chronic illnesses that are largely preventable. Community Health Centers empower their patients to improve their own quality of life and overall health and provide holistic, physician driven and patient centered health services that emphasize wellness and chronic disease prevention and management. No person should ever suffer needlessly from chronic disease or the risk factors impacting chronic disease.

Data indicates that Arkansas Community Health Centers provide a cost savings to the state’s health care system of more than $200 million annually (Access Granted, 2007; 2008 UDS Data) and an economic impact of more than $117 million annually in payroll, services, and products (State Economic Impact Report, 2009). CHCs provide greater efficiency of care leading to fewer costly tests, procedures, extended hospital stays, and unnecessary emergency room visits that overwhelm the health care delivery system. Patients receiving a majority of their care at a CHC have 41 percent lower expenses than those who receive their care from other health care providers. Republicans and Democrats agree that the health center program has proven its worth as a sound taxpayer investment.

Arkansas Community Health Centers will continue to provide high-quality and affordable primary and preventive health care services to underserved Arkansans, regardless of their insurance status. However, the need far outweighs the capacity to serve, and the need continues to grow. Future investments in CHCs will ensure that all Americans and all Arkansans have equal access to vital health care services, no matter the outcome of health care reform.