Repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, combined with a failure to renew critical funding streams, would result in catastrophic funding losses for community health centers–forcing these safety net providers to cut back on services, lay off staff or shut down clinical sites, according to a report published today. The report represents the first analysis of the potential effects on medically underserved communities of the types of health insurance losses contained in legislation now pending in Congress.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the American Health Care Act as introduced on March 6th would eliminate health insurance coverage for 24 million people by 2026. At risk are ACA expansions of private insurance subsidies, and cuts to the Medicaid program, which is a key source of insurance coverage for health center patients, providing coverage to just under half of those served by community health centers in 2015. Reductions of the magnitude forecast by CBO could trigger deep reductions in health center services, according to the report from investigators at the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Research Collaborative at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH).
“Impact estimates of rolling back the Affordable Care Act’s insurance reforms have emphasized its implications for insurance coverage. We believe that this is the first study to gauge the possible effects of major reductions in coverage on primary health care access in medically underserved urban and rural communities,” said Sara Rosenbaum, JD, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at Milken Institute SPH and lead author of the report. “Close to half of all community health centers predict what can only be described as catastrophic financial losses that in turn would trigger a nationwide reduction in services.”
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The report, "How Could Repealing Key Provisions of the Affordable Care Act Affect Community Health Centers and their Patients?” can be accessed here.