Medicaid and Community Health Centers: The Relationship between Coverage for Adults and Primary Care Capacity in Medically Underserved Communities

Authors

Peter Shin, George Washington University
Sara J. Rosenbaum, George Washington UniversityFollow
Brian K. Bruen, George Washington UniversityFollow
Alice (Xiao-Xiao) Lu, George Washington UniversityFollow
Rachel Arguello, Kaiser Family Foundation
Jennifer Tolbert, Kaiser Family Foundation

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

3-2012

Keywords

Medicaid & SCHIP; Community Health Centers; Health Reform

Abstract

Community health centers play an important role in providing care to uninsured and low-income individuals living in medically underserved communities. They rely on many different revenue sources and, over time, Medicaid has become a central source of funding for most health centers. To better understand how Medicaid influences health center practice, this paper compares the strength of health centers in states that have expanded Medicaid coverage for adults to health centers in states with more limited Medicaid coverage for adults. Differences between the two groups of health centers help shed light on the implications of broader Medicaid coverage for low-income populations on the overall strength of health care safety net.

Comments

Funder: RCHN Community Health Foundation.

Also available at: http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/medicaid-and-community-health-centers-the-relationship/.

APA Citation

Shin, P., Rosenbaum, S., Bruen, B., Lu, A., Arguello, R., & Tolbert, J. (2012). Medicaid and community health centers: The relationship between coverage for adults and primary care capacity in medically underserved communities (Issue paper no. 8293). Washington, DC: Kaiser Commision on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Open Access

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