U.S. grants $28.8 million to community health centers

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Obama's government said it will spend $ 28.8 million in grants to create new sites of community health center in 23 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.

The grants, announced Tuesday, are part of $ 11 billion pledged to the centers of new and existing health over the next five years. The money that was promised in the law last year that reviewed the U.S. health system is intended to help pay for new sites where people can receive medical care regardless of ability to pay.

These health centers serve 19.5 million patients, 40 percent of whom are uninsured.

The centers often include clinics in rural and urban areas and treat people who live far from hospitals and the poor, who pay variable rates based on the amount of money they earn. Ethnic and minority groups make up almost two thirds of patients in the centers.

The centers play an important role in public health through the adoption of voltage emergency rooms in major hospitals funded by the state that many people see as a last resort for the uninsured.

"They are paying attention is good or better than the rest of the health system and keep costs down," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The $ 28.8 million grant will expand the scope of the centers about 286,000 patients.

Community health centers suffered a blow earlier this year when Congress cut funding by 27.5 percent as part of the agreement on the budget.

Accounting for 2011 cuts funding for the fiscal year exceeds that of last year, rising to U.S. $ 2.5 million, said Health and Human Resources Manager Mary Wakefield.

Of that amount, about $ 1 billion comes from the health reform funding and another $ 1.5 billion regular credit, he said.

The HHS received 810 requests for grants announced Tuesday. Of the 67 winners, 10 applicants plan to establish new community centers, while others plan to add new sites of services to existing centers.

In October 2010, the Obama administration allocated the first $ 727 million to help fix the community health centers across the country. The money should go to 143 centers.
Read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/09/us-community-health-centers-idUSTRE77854A20110809