President Announces Funds for Community Health Center Projects
Today, President Obama announced that nearly $600 million from the federal economic stimulus package will go toward building construction and electronic health record implementation at more than 80 community health centers nationwide, the AP/Miami Herald reports.
Nearly $509 million of the funds will be spent to repair, rebuild and replace federally designated community health centers.
Another $88 million will help the centers upgrade their technology and transfer their records to an electronic format.
Community health centers serve 17 million patients, many of whom lack insurance (Elliott, AP/Miami Herald, 12/9). The projects are expected to facilitate access to medical services for an additional 500,000 patients in underserved communities and create jobs in construction and health care (Holland, Reuters, 12/9).
Medicare Pilot
President Obama also is asking HHS to start a three-year trial to examine how to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries at community health centers. As many as 500 facilities could participate in the trial (Elliott, AP/Miami Herald, 12/9). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.