Community health centers face financial threats from federal policy changes
Federal policy changes are putting community health centers at risk of financial struggles, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s John McDonough.
McDonough, professor of the practice of public health, was quoted on the issue in a Jan. 28 GBH article. He noted that, traditionally, community health centers—there are roughly 17,000 across the U.S.—have had bipartisan support. But under the Trump administration, he said, “We are seeing the greatest assault on community health centers and healthcare for disadvantaged populations that we have ever seen in the modern history of the country, going back to the 1960s when we created Medicare and Medicaid.”
Proposed changes to a pharmaceutical discount program, cuts to insurance subsidies and Medicaid, and other federal changes are expected to strain community health centers’ finances, according to center leaders from Massachusetts quoted in the article.
For example, with subsidies from the Affordable Care Act expiring and insurance costs spiking, many people may drop their health plans. This will likely lead to more people seeking care at community health centers, which see everyone regardless of their ability to pay. And Medicaid cuts will create a gap between the cost of care and what community health centers are reimbursed for, further impacting centers’ financial stability.
Community health centers are “going to be hit from so many different directions,” said McDonough. “They are going to have to cut back on their staffs. They may have to close programs. Some of them, I believe, will probably go out of business.”
Read or listen to the GBH story: Community health centers face multiple threats to financial stability
