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AMERICA'S
HEALTH CENTERS
America's
Health Centers are private, not-for-profit, consumer-directed
health care corporations that provide high quality, cost-effective
and comprehensive primary and preventive care to medically underserved
and uninsured people. This nationwide network of safety net providers
is primarily comprised of health centers which are supported by federal
grants under
the U.S. Public Health Service Act:
-
Community
Health Centers
-
Migrant
Health Centers
-
Health
Care for the Homeless Programs
-
Public
Housing Primary Care Programs
These
community-based providers are also commonly referred to as Federally
Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) because they meet rigorous
federal standards related to quality of care and services, as well
as, cost and they are qualified to receive cost-based reimbursement
under
Medicaid and Medicare law.
Health
Centers are community-based and governed by consumer boards
that ensure accountability to their local communities and taxpayers.
At least 51 percent of the health center's board must be comprised
of patients who utilize the health center's services.
TENNESSEE'S
FEDERALLY FUNDED HEALTH CENTERS
Forty-one
of Tennessee's 95 counties have a federally funded health center (FQHC)
presence. We have a total of 20 FQHCs with 69 sites. As often the
sole provider of sliding fee scale services, Tennessee's FQHCs serve
a disproportionate share of the uninsured and the disenfranchised,
the individuals that no one else would serve. The health centers see
60,000 uninsured users and 90,200 TennCare users.
Over
the next five years Tennessee health centers plan to serve an additional
106,995 health center users with the full range of primary care services,
specifically this includes:
- 23 new
communities and an estimated 79,330 new users will be served (new
sites and expanded medical capacity)
- 13 expansions
into primary dental and behavioral health access are planned by existing
health centers to serve 40,215 users (an estimated 9,349 users will
be new users of health center services)
- An estimated
59,317 of the users served will be individuals with no health insurance
coverage
TENNESSEE
PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
While
our core membership is comprised of 20 the federally funded health
centers in Tennessee, other TPCA members include primary health care
clinics throughout the state, health professions schools, health care
consultants, and interested individuals.
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