“We will be two-thirds of the way home [to extending health care to everyone] in five years instead of the one-third of the way we are today,” said Dan Hawkins, senior vice president of policy and research for the National Association of Community Health Centers. The group represents 1,250 community health care organizations operating more than 8,000 sites. They in turn serve about 20 million patients, some 8 million of them uninsured.

Probably the biggest provision in the reform package is $11 billion earmarked for new funding for the community health centers program over five years beginning in fiscal year 2011, which starts in October. A total of $9.5 billion of the amount is for the health centers to expand their operations to serve nearly 20 million new patients. The remaining $1.5 billion will be allocated for expanding existing facilities and to build new ones.

The federal government does not consider all medical clinics to be community health centers eligible for funding. Rather, Mr. Hawkins explained, a non-profit community center must have five basic characteristics:

• It must be located in an area of need and a medically underserved area. “It must have high poverty, high rates of uninsured people and have lots of sick people,” he said.

• It must provide comprehensive health services, including mental health and dental care, health and nutrition education, and it must break down barriers to getting the service, including transportation. The Squirrel Hill center, for example, has a mobile medical unit with two equipped examination rooms.

• It must be open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

• It must be community-owned and -operated. “By that they mean that every health center is governed by a governing board, and active, regularly listed patients must be in the majority [of board members],” Mr. Hawkins said.

• And, he said, the center is evaluated for effectiveness. “It is subject to performance and accountability requirements that are, in my opinion, unparalleled in the health care industry.”

Other local community health centers include the multisite Primary Care Health Services, Inc. and East Liberty Family Health Care Center; North Side Christian Health Center and Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks.

The new law also appropriates $1.5 billion over five years for the National Health Service Corps, which the National Association of Community Health Centers says will put 15,000 primary care providers in communities that need them.

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/10097/1048314-114.stm#ixzz0kQH1HOtZ