Assessing the Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Uninsured Community Health Center Patients: A Nationwide and State-by-State Analysis

Sara Rosenbaum, J.D.

Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor, George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, Department of Health Policy

Rachel A. Gonzalez-Hanson

Chief Executive Officer, Community Health Development, Inc. (CHDI), Uvalde, Texas

Peter Shin, Ph.D., MPH

Associate Professor of Health Policy, Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Director, George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services

A new report from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative examines the impact of health reform on community health centers and their patients. “Assessing the Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Uninsured Community Health Center Patients: A Nationwide and State-by-State Analysis,” estimates that more than 5 million health center patients would have gained coverage had all states participated in a sweeping Medicaid expansion.  However, with nearly half of all CHCs located in states that have opted out of the expansion, a million uninsured CHC patients who would have been covered under a nationwide expansion will likely be left without the protection of health insurance.  Further, the health centers in these states stand to lose over $555 million in revenue they would have received had their states expanded Medicaid. Health centers in these opt-out states, many of which are located in the south, already face especially deep challenges as they continue to care for patients in the nation’s most medically underserved communities.  States that have rejected the Medicaid expansion might reconsider and decide to expand coverage.  In the near-term, however, health centers in these states can be expected to fall further behind those in expansion states, and struggle with more significant growth challenges, more limited service capacity, and more limited ability to invest in those important programs and systems that improve quality and efficiency. The archive of this webcast will be posted approximately Friday Nov 8, 2013. The archive will be available for free CME credit for a period of one year. For questions, please email eLearning@CDNetwork.org. You can read the new report – and our policy brief series – on the RCHN website. This webinar will include a presentation by the authors and discussion and commentary on the findings.