Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell has announced approximately $14.7 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 23 new health center sites in California, including $379,167 for the Venice Family Clinic, for the delivery of comprehensive primary health care services to the communities that need them most.
These new health centers in California are projected to increase access to health care services for nearly 117,582 patients. Nationally, approximately $101 million was awarded to 164 new health center sites in 33 states and two U.S. territories to increase access to health care services for nearly 650,000 patients.
"The Affordable Care Act has led to unprecedented increases in access to health insurance. Part of building on that progress is connecting people to the care they need," said Burwell. "Health centers are keystones of the communities they serve in California. Today's awards will enable more individuals and families in California to have access to the affordable, quality health care that health centers provide. That includes the preventive and primary care services that will keep them healthy."
Nationally, this investment will add to the more than 550 new health center sites that have opened in the last four years as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Today, nearly 151 health centers operate more than 1,218 service delivery sites that provide care to nearly 3,412,961 patients in California.
Health centers have also been critical in helping Californians sign up for health insurance through the Marketplace. Since 2013, health centers assisted more than 1,738,555 Californians in their efforts to become insured.
"More people have insurance in the United States than ever before," said HRSA Acting Administrator Jim Macrae. "Health centers provide an accessible and dependable source of culturally competent primary care for many of the newly insured."
The recently enacted bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act builds on this progress by extending mandatory funding for health centers in fiscal years 2016 and 2017.
For more information, visit http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/index.html. To find a health center, visit http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov.
