L.A. Community Clinic Faces Challenges Under Affordable Care Act
Grants provided through the Affordable Care Act have helped community clinics such as Los Angeles' Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center expand services, but such providers will face challenges as the law is fully implemented, HealthyCal reports.
Clinic Details
Eisner is a federally qualified health center that provides care mostly to Latino individuals living in Los Angeles.
With the help of ACA grants, Eisner has:
- Expanded its dental clinic;
- Doubled its pediatric services; and
- Enlarged its pharmacy.
The grants also have allowed the clinic to partner with the University of Southern California and California Hospital Medical Center to launch a primary care clinic staffed by medical residents.
Challenges
According to HealthyCal, Eisner faces several challenges during ACA implementation, including:
- Recruiting more providers to meet increased demand resulting from the Medi-Cal expansion;
- Finding space for additional providers; and
- Dealing with lower Medi-Cal reimbursements.
Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.
Implications for Other Clinics
Deborah Lerner -- chief medical officer at Eisner -- said that "really all community clinics are facing" the same challenges as Eisner under the ACA.
Eisner President and CEO Carl Coan said implementation of the law "is going to be tough for clinics" because they must make various changes while still providing care to uninsured individuals.
He said that the ACA does not represent "an end to the [uninsured] crisis by any means" (Fulton, HealthyCal, 9/5).
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