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The toll taken on poor communities: community health centers in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
The toll taken on poor communities: community health centers in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Policy issue brief (Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative)
- Author(s):
- Sharac, Jessica, author
Jacobs, Feygele, author
Shin, Peter, author
Rosenbaum, Sara, author - Contributor(s):
- Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative issuing body.
Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, issuing body.
George Washington University, issuing body.
Milken Institute School of Public Health, issuing body. - Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, October 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Community Health Centers -- statistics & numerical data
Community Health Services -- statistics & numerical data
COVID-19
Poverty
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- In thousands of medically underserved rural and urban communities, community health centers played a vital role in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. With crucial financial support through supplemental grants and Medicaid, health centers tested more than 3.7 million patients for the novel coronavirus and cared for nearly 745,000 patients with COVID-19, while also demonstrating their ability to rapidly adapt to pandemic operating conditions. Though fewer than half of all health centers offered telemedicine services in 2019, nearly all did so in 2020. Virtual visits accounted for 25 percent of all community health center visits in 2020 compared to 0.4 percent in 2019. The latest evidence from the federal government also shows the pandemic’s clear impact on community health center services. The total number of patients served dropped by 1.2 million, with the number of children and adolescents served falling by 14 percent. Total visits fell by 8.6 million from 2019 to 2020--a seven percent decrease. These declines translated into a drop in the number of patients receiving preventive care and diagnostic tests during 2020. Rebuilding health center capacity--crucial for communities facing high poverty, elevated health risks, and extensive health disparities and a shortage of primary health care--will take both additional direct grant funding as well as sustained Medicaid investment. Pending federal legislation would provide a pathway to comprehensive, affordable health insurance among residents in the 12 states that have refused to adopt the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion. In addition, in the coming months health centers may face the additional challenges that will arise if the federal government ends the special COVID-19 public health emergency declaration and, along with it, the continuous Medicaid enrollment protection that has been in place since March 2020.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (17 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918366987106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918366987106676