Senate Democrat and Republican leaders struck a deal yesterday that would allow for an accelerated timetable leading to the final Senate vote on the Health Care Reform Bill. The Senate will hold the final vote on the bill on Christmas Eve at 8 AM EST. This will be the first December 24th session since 1963. The final vote requires only a majority (51 votes) to pass.
The Senate and House Conference to combine the Health Care Reform Bill will begin in January. The initial goal of Democratic Congressional leaders was to have the bill ready for President Obama’s signature before his first State of the Union Address. However, it is likely that it will take longer to complete the merged bill. Politico reports, “Officials at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue hope to avoid a formal conference -- appointing conferees requires a series of votes. Some House members want the formal process, but the differences are more likely to be hashed out among Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid and the White House, with some personal involvement by the President. Then Congressional Budget Office scoring could take seven to 10 days" before the merged bill is complete (Allen, 12/23).
In the event that the Health Care Reform Bill goes before the formal Conference Committee,
Arkansas Community Health Centers have a strong voice of support on the committee in Representative Marion Berry.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Health Care Reform Benefits for Community Health Centers
There are a variety of provisions in the Senate’s health care reform bill that greatly impact Community Health Centers. They are summarized below:
Revised Senate Bill eliminates:
Finally, follow this link - http://bit.ly/5RvHrL - to hear Senator Bernie Sanders (I – Vermont) speaking on the Senate floor about the provisions for Community Health Centers included in the Senate health care reform bill which he helped secure.
- The Reid amendment added $10 billion in GUARANTEED funding for Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps over the next five years (FY11-FY15). This funding will enable health center construction projects, base operations sustainability
- The Reid Amendment restored the Menendez Amendment to the bill. This amendment ensures that all health plans will pay health centers their Medicaid PPS rates
- The Reid Amendment improved the Medicare payment language that was already in the Senate bill.
- Essential Community Providers - mandatory contracting with all 340B providers, which includes CHCs.
- Teaching Health Centers - Enabling residency training at health centers.
- Negotiated Rule-Making for Medically Underserved Area Designation process- Calls on HRSA to work with stakeholders as they redesign the MUA/HPSA process.
- Coordinated Care Networks – This is a newer version of the old HCAP program. Health Centers and public hospitals would be are the core of this newly authorized system.
- Senate approves 60 day freeze on 21.2% Medicare cuts
- CHIP funding extension and adoption tax credit through 2015
- Establishment of a Pregnancy Assistance Fund to assist teenage mothers
- Requirements for all health plans to include oral and vision coverage for children
- That all children have free covered preventive services
- A health insurance exchange for children through child-only insurance policies, regardless of parent’s insurance status
Revised Senate Bill eliminates:
- Provider Medicare and Medicaid enrollment fee
- State “opt-out” public option
- Medicare “opt-in” for 55-64 yr old uninsured (MGMA)
Finally, follow this link - http://bit.ly/5RvHrL - to hear Senator Bernie Sanders (I – Vermont) speaking on the Senate floor about the provisions for Community Health Centers included in the Senate health care reform bill which he helped secure.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Health Care Reform Update - 12/21/2009
The Senate took a major step forward in passing health care reform legislation. Over the weekend, Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) agreed to support the bill after language was included to allow states to opt out of allowing insurance plans to cover abortions, providing the critical 60th vote.
According to the Commonwealth Fund, the senate voted 60-40 at 1:00 this morning to close debate on the “Manager’s Amendment.”
The Senate must approve two more cloture petitions shutting off debate on the base bill and the underlying House-passed bill serving as the vehicle for the base bill before a final vote can occur in the Senate on the overhaul proposal.
The second cloture vote is scheduled for 7 a.m. on Tuesday and a third cloture vote if the second one passes is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. A vote on final passage of the overhaul bill would then occur Thursday, Dec. 24 at 7 p.m.
The Senate’s bill would provide insurance coverage to 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured, and would cost $871 billion.
Community Health Centers are big winners in the current version of the Senate bill. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was successful in having $10 billion set aside to supplement Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps. According to the Burlington Free Press, this would fund CHCs in 10,000 new communities, providing services to 25 million more Americans. The investment also provide an additional 20,000 slots for the National Health Service Corps, helping to ensure a growing base of primary care professionals (Remsen, 12/20/2009).
In a press release posted on her website, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln expressed her support for the revised Senate health care plan “because it will lower heath care costs, expand access to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years—all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk.”
According to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the bill also includes an expansion of Medicaid that would provide coverage to over 200,000 Arkansans who would become eligible under the new guidelines (Medicaid Plan Adds To Debate, Park, 12/21/2009).
According to the Commonwealth Fund, the senate voted 60-40 at 1:00 this morning to close debate on the “Manager’s Amendment.”
The Senate must approve two more cloture petitions shutting off debate on the base bill and the underlying House-passed bill serving as the vehicle for the base bill before a final vote can occur in the Senate on the overhaul proposal.
The second cloture vote is scheduled for 7 a.m. on Tuesday and a third cloture vote if the second one passes is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. A vote on final passage of the overhaul bill would then occur Thursday, Dec. 24 at 7 p.m.
The Senate’s bill would provide insurance coverage to 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured, and would cost $871 billion.
Community Health Centers are big winners in the current version of the Senate bill. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was successful in having $10 billion set aside to supplement Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps. According to the Burlington Free Press, this would fund CHCs in 10,000 new communities, providing services to 25 million more Americans. The investment also provide an additional 20,000 slots for the National Health Service Corps, helping to ensure a growing base of primary care professionals (Remsen, 12/20/2009).
In a press release posted on her website, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln expressed her support for the revised Senate health care plan “because it will lower heath care costs, expand access to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years—all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk.”
According to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the bill also includes an expansion of Medicaid that would provide coverage to over 200,000 Arkansans who would become eligible under the new guidelines (Medicaid Plan Adds To Debate, Park, 12/21/2009).
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Health Care Reform Update - 12/17/09
Senate Republicans are using every tactic they have available to delay health care reform. Senate Democrats are still working out agreements and amendments in order to secure the 60 votes needed to move the bill to a vote and avoid Republican filibuster. However, there is a bright light in the health care reform tunnel for Community Health Centers.
Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) has spoken out strongly, insisting that the Senate health care reform bill include the provisions outlined in the House bill to greatly increase funding for Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps. The inclusion of this funding would help ensure a strong primary care workforce to accommodate the millions of Americans that will gain health insurance if reform is passed. According to Senator Sanders, “Community Health Centers are a blessing to Americans who have Medicare, Medicaid or no insurance at all because they provide primary care, including dental, and help keep Americans from having to use emergency rooms as their health care provider” (NY Daily News, December 16, 2009).
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Get The Facts on Health Care Reform
As the debate over health care reform continues on in the Senate, many Arkansans are confused or left wondering what all of this means for them. We are here to help.
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has produced these guides designed to help Community Health Center patients and advocates understand and navigate health care reform from both a personal and health center perspective.
Click here to get the document "Health Reform: What Does Health Reform Mean for ME?"
Click here to get the NACHC "Health Reform Glossary," useful for decoding many of the terms associated with the health care reform debate.
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has produced these guides designed to help Community Health Center patients and advocates understand and navigate health care reform from both a personal and health center perspective.
Click here to get the document "Health Reform: What Does Health Reform Mean for ME?"
Click here to get the NACHC "Health Reform Glossary," useful for decoding many of the terms associated with the health care reform debate.
Friday, December 4, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Arkansas Stimulus Success Stories
Communities in rural Arkansas face a common scenario, a lack of basic primary care services forces residents to drive long distances to see a physician. Community Health Centers make a valiant effort to bring rural Arkansas communities the health services they need, but often resources are stretched thin and the need is simply too great. “With stimulus funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), Arkansas CHCs can add and retain providers, nurses, and support staff, giving them the opportunity to expand existing services as well as provide new services,” says Dr. Susan Ward-Jones, CEO, East Arkansas Family Health Center, Inc. For the small rural community of Bearden, AR this means that the residents of this small town now have full-time access to primary medical care. In Corning and Pocahontas, women now have local access to quality, affordable prenatal care and women’s health services.
Although CABUN Rural Health Services, Inc. has maintained a medical site in Bearden for some time, they have not had the personnel to keep the clinic open full-time.
Residents would have to drive 25-30 miles on narrow rural roads to the nearest hospital to receive medical care. In May 2009, with funding from the ARRA Increased Demand for Services grant, CABUN hired an experienced Advanced Practice Nurse, Mr. Kelly Clark, to provide full-time services at the Bearden site. Mr. Clark joins the current part-time physician assistant to offer expanded hours and offers a variety of medical services that were not previously available locally including a variety of procedures and simple office surgeries.
Mr. Clark has quickly endeared himself to the community by participating in community events and letting people know that he is ready and available to provide for their health care needs. The expansion of the Bearden Health Center is already making a difference for residents in the small rural town of Bearden, Arkansas.
In northeast Arkansas, women living in the Corning and Pocahontas area have had limited access to prenatal and women’s health services due to a lack of OB/GYNs in their area. With ARRA Increased Demand for Services funding, Corning Area Healthcare, Inc. (CAHI) hired Dr. Dawn Brown, OB/GYN and Nurse Vicki Adamson, RN to provide these vital women’s health services locally. Dr. Brown began her practice on March 1, 2009 and has treated 113 new patients, including 65 who are uninsured. Women no longer drive 30-60 miles to be seen by an OB/GYN.
Patients see Dr.
Brown within a week of making an appointment instead of sitting on waiting lists for out-of-town private physicians.
As the media and many Americans continue to scrutinize the various uses of the stimulus funding, it is important to highlight the positive impact this funding is making in our local communities in Arkansas. Access to local, affordable, quality primary and preventive health care services leads to healthy and productive citizens. Healthy and productive citizens lead to healthy and productive communities.
Although CABUN Rural Health Services, Inc. has maintained a medical site in Bearden for some time, they have not had the personnel to keep the clinic open full-time.
Residents would have to drive 25-30 miles on narrow rural roads to the nearest hospital to receive medical care. In May 2009, with funding from the ARRA Increased Demand for Services grant, CABUN hired an experienced Advanced Practice Nurse, Mr. Kelly Clark, to provide full-time services at the Bearden site. Mr. Clark joins the current part-time physician assistant to offer expanded hours and offers a variety of medical services that were not previously available locally including a variety of procedures and simple office surgeries.Mr. Clark has quickly endeared himself to the community by participating in community events and letting people know that he is ready and available to provide for their health care needs. The expansion of the Bearden Health Center is already making a difference for residents in the small rural town of Bearden, Arkansas.
In northeast Arkansas, women living in the Corning and Pocahontas area have had limited access to prenatal and women’s health services due to a lack of OB/GYNs in their area. With ARRA Increased Demand for Services funding, Corning Area Healthcare, Inc. (CAHI) hired Dr. Dawn Brown, OB/GYN and Nurse Vicki Adamson, RN to provide these vital women’s health services locally. Dr. Brown began her practice on March 1, 2009 and has treated 113 new patients, including 65 who are uninsured. Women no longer drive 30-60 miles to be seen by an OB/GYN.
Patients see Dr.
Brown within a week of making an appointment instead of sitting on waiting lists for out-of-town private physicians.As the media and many Americans continue to scrutinize the various uses of the stimulus funding, it is important to highlight the positive impact this funding is making in our local communities in Arkansas. Access to local, affordable, quality primary and preventive health care services leads to healthy and productive citizens. Healthy and productive citizens lead to healthy and productive communities.
White River Rural Health Center to Provide Housing Assistance for HIV Patients
White River Rural Health Center’s HIV Care Program received a one-year, $164,732 contract awarded by the Arkansas Department of Health to provide housing assistance for HIV patients through the Housing of People with AIDS (HOPWA) Program. The coverage area includes two of the six HOPWA Districts in Arkansas, covering 27 counties in northeast and north central Arkansas. The HIV CARE program can now provide all HIV services available in the state including Ryan White Part B (medications), Ryan White Part C (medical care), Ryan White Part D (women and children services), and HOPWA (housing) onsite in all four HIV Access sites: Mountain Home, Batesville, Kensett, and Jonesboro.
CHCA Receives Governor's Quality Award
For more than 15 years the Governor’s Quality Award (GQA) Program has been serving Arkansas’s organizations by identifying business strengths and opportunities for improvement and creating a culture of quality by using the Baldrige Criteria as a measurement tool. The vision of the GQA is to “Contribute to the success of Arkansas organizations and the communities they serve” while its mission is “To promote, educate and recognize Arkansas organizations committed to performance excellence.”This year, Community Health Centers of Arkansas has partnered with the Governor’s Quality Award Program, Arkansas Hospital Association, Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, American Data Network, and the Arkansas Health Care Association to present the Challenge Healthcare Seminar on June 10th at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Not only did CHCA partner to sponsor the seminar, but also committed to participate in the program by completing the requirements for the Challenge Award. The Challenge Award level is the starting point for any organization expressing interest in adopting and applying quality principles as defined by the seven categories of the Governor’s Quality Award Criteria. Application at this level requires a three-page overview of the organization’s operation, the signature of the executive leader of the organization indicating his/her commitment, and attendance at a Challenge Seminar.
Governor Beebe awarded CHCA with the Governor’s Quality Challenge Award during the 15th Annual Awards Celebration for the Governor’s Quality Award Program on Monday evening, October 19th at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock. More than 275 business and civic leaders from throughout Arkansas attended the celebration.
Community Clinic Receives Grant to Enhance ARKids First Enrollment Efforts
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on September 30 announced $40 million in grants to 69 grantees in 41 states and the District of Columbia to help them find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Grants were awarded to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible but uninsured children, particularly those with racial and ethnic minority groups who are uninsured at higher-than-average rates. Community Clinic received $162,965 to enhance their ARKids First enrollment efforts by increasing enrollment worker staffing.
Arkansas Health Center Controlled Network Under Development
Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc. (CHCA), the Arkansas Primary Care Association, and six (6) of the 12 member Community Health Centers (CHCs) received $ 458,003 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to develop the Arkansas Health Center Controlled Network (AHCCN). This Network will establish an integrated and networked Health Information Technology infrastructure aimed at implementing certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs). CHCA will oversee the integration and networking of each CHC into the AHCCN.
Creation of the AHCCN will impact over 62,000 Arkansas CHC patients and will improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of care given by the participating CHCs. As part of this project, the AHCCN also aims to track and improve measures relating to early childhood immunizations, diabetes and cervical cancer. Integration into the AHCCN will allow Arkansas CHCs to share data, collaborate on future health disparity initiatives and provide patients with increased quality of care.
“The creation of the Arkansas Health Center Controlled Network provides Arkansas CHCs the opportunity to be on the leading edge of implementing available technologies which positively impacts the delivery of patient care and improves patient health outcomes,” says Sip Mouden, CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc. “Eventually all 12 Arkansas CHCs will belong to the network allowing them to share data electronically and lead the way in reducing health disparities among medically underserved Arkansans.”
Reducing health disparities is the number one priority of Arkansas CHCs. Historically, Arkansas has lagged behind the national average in the percent of two-year old children receiving CDC standard immunizations, as well as controlling diabetes. Moreover, the state’s death rate is 20% above the national average for deaths from cervical cancer. Implementation of the AHCCN is an important step forward in improving the health and well-being of all Arkansans.
Creation of the AHCCN will impact over 62,000 Arkansas CHC patients and will improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of care given by the participating CHCs. As part of this project, the AHCCN also aims to track and improve measures relating to early childhood immunizations, diabetes and cervical cancer. Integration into the AHCCN will allow Arkansas CHCs to share data, collaborate on future health disparity initiatives and provide patients with increased quality of care.
“The creation of the Arkansas Health Center Controlled Network provides Arkansas CHCs the opportunity to be on the leading edge of implementing available technologies which positively impacts the delivery of patient care and improves patient health outcomes,” says Sip Mouden, CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc. “Eventually all 12 Arkansas CHCs will belong to the network allowing them to share data electronically and lead the way in reducing health disparities among medically underserved Arkansans.”
Reducing health disparities is the number one priority of Arkansas CHCs. Historically, Arkansas has lagged behind the national average in the percent of two-year old children receiving CDC standard immunizations, as well as controlling diabetes. Moreover, the state’s death rate is 20% above the national average for deaths from cervical cancer. Implementation of the AHCCN is an important step forward in improving the health and well-being of all Arkansans.
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