Bush touts community health centers as a common-sense approach
The White House
May 25, 2004
Fact Sheet: Expanding Access to Health Care for Millions of Americans The President’s budgets are on track to fulfill his promise to open or expand 1,200 Community Health Centers to serve an additional 6.1 million Americans by 2006. The President’s budget for FY 2005 continues to fulfill this promise with a request of $1.8 billion for Community Health Centers — a 57% increase since 2001 — enabling the program to serve an additional 1.6 million individuals and open or expand over 330 more health centers.
Community Health Centers are an important part of the President’s agenda to
make America’s world-leading health care more accessible, and more affordable.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040525-5.html
Los Angeles Times
May 26, 2004
Bush Highlights Community Health Centers in 2005 Plan
By Edwin Chen and Vicki Kemper
In a campaign-style “conversation” at Youngstown State University, Bush touted neighborhood clinics, a centerpiece of his healthcare agenda, as a primary way to expand access to medical services.
The National Assn. of Community Health Centers, a nonprofit organization that represents the clinic network, welcomed Bush’s support for the centers but said still more funding was needed.
In 2002 and 2003, about 1,250 clinics applied for federal funds, but only 411 applications were approved, the group said. The association reported earlier this year that 36 million Americans lacked access to basic medical care. There are about 3,500 community health centers across the country, serving up to 13 million people, most of whom live in low-income urban neighborhoods or underserved rural areas. About 40% of those people have no health insurance, and many more are underinsured and cannot afford to meet the cost of their high deductibles and co-payments.
Most of the clinics, which provide primary medical care and basic dental services, receive little or no federal funding.
Neighborhood clinics are “a common-sense approach to making sure the healthcare system works . without centralizing the decision-making process in Washington, D.C.,” Bush said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bush26may26,1,3004657.story
Comment: Providing federal support for community health centers is the centerpiece of President Bush’s program to “make sure the healthcare system
works.”
How well is it working? 411 of 3500 or only 12% of community health centers
have received funding under his program. $1.8 billion has been budgeted to serve 13 million individuals, or $138 per individual. Realizing that our per capita health expenditures for 2004 are $6167, it is clear that $138/year will buy very little health care, especially considering the greater needs of this sector of our society.
Sadly, it looks like President Bush’s centerpiece doesn’t even have a table to hold it up.