A critical federal fund for community health centers is due to expire at the end of the current federal fiscal year on September 30. If Congress fails to renew the funding, these safety net providers stand to lose 70 percent of federal grant funding by 2018 and an estimated 9 million people could be deprived of access to health care, according to a new report and infographic produced by researchers at the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management.
Both the report and the infographic were created in collaboration with the RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative. They depict what is at stake for medically underserved communities nationally if the Community Health Center Fund is not renewed. This crucial fund supports 1,367 federally funded community health centers, which served nearly 26 million people at more than 10,400 sites in 2016. Like the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is also set to expire at the end of this month, the health center program enjoys broad bipartisan support.
Read more about the report here
View the infographic here