Gauging the Capacity of Community Health Care Centers to Serve the Unisured

Community health centers will likely remain a critical component of the health care safety net for vulnerable populations for the foreseeable future. This project will examine how the policy and funding environment — national, state, and local — may affect health centers, particularly in states where large numbers of people are expected to remain uninsured. Focusing on four such states, the research team will conduct interviews with health center leaders, county health officials, and local health center associations to determine: 1) how changes in revenue streams affect funding for uncompensated care; 2) how patient mix and demand for uncompensated care change during the initial implementation of the Affordable Care Act; and 3) how health centers respond to these changes. National and clinic-level financial data will supplement these findings. The project will inform policy options for ensuring adequate primary care access for vulnerable populations and reveal best practices at the clinic level for adapting to funding changes.