Community Health Centers: A Prescription for Improving Child Health
The 2011 Kids Count in Michigan Data Book released today shows that growing poverty in Michigan threatens the health of children across our state. One symptom of poverty is difficulty accessing healthcare.
"Low-income families often delay or don't seek healthcare for their children due to lack of health insurance, inability to pay for services, and transportation, language, and cultural barriers. Fortunately there is a resource in communities across the state that overcomes these barriers. That resource is called a Community Health Center," said Kim Sibilsky, Executive Director, Michigan Primary Care Association.
A Community Health Center, also known as a Federally Qualified Health Center, is a local, non-profit, community-owned provider of quality primary and preventive healthcare. There are over 190 Community Health Center sites in urban and rural Michigan communities, and their doors are open to everyone regardless of insurance status or socioeconomic indicators. Today 92.2 percent of Michigan Health Center patients are low-income and 69 percent have family income levels at or below poverty. Of the nearly 600,000 Michigan residents who rely on a Community Health Center as their healthcare home and family physician, over one-third (nearly 205,000) are children.
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Two Upcoming Opportunities for Health Center Advocacy
Health Center advocates are encouraged to attend two upcoming events focused on advocating for Community Health Centers.
The first is
Michigan Primary Care Association's 2012 Legislative Forum to be held February 28, 2012, in Lansing, Michigan. This is an opportunity for you to meet one-on-one with your state legislators to discuss how YOUR Health Center is benefiting the communities and constituents they represent. You will also have the opportunity to network with your peers from across the state, and to learn about the current political climate in Lansing and its implications for the state's Health Centers in 2012.
Click here for the agenda and registration information. Please note the registration deadline is February 6.
The second event, the
National Association of Community Health Centers' 2012 Policy & Issues Forum to be held March 21-25, 2012, is an opportunity for Health Center advocates from across the country to gather in Washington, DC. This year's event comes at a time of monumental change in public health policy. Community Health Centers are engaged in an effort to double their patient numbers and expand reach to all corners of America as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act. Yet, budgetary struggles at state and national levels, and an uncertain political climate, pose considerable challenges to the Health Center effort to strengthen and expand the primary care infrastructure in the U.S. Attend the NACHC 2012 Policy & Issues Forum to meet with your Members of Congress on Capitol Hill, and to learn about the latest breaking developments on key state and federal policies that impact Health Centers.
Click hereMaintaining existing Health Center services/operations and expanding access to care is an ever-present challenge due to the political climate at both the state and federal level. Therefore, it is critical that every Health Center advocate take every opportunity to stay up-to-date on issues impacting Health Centers and to give their Health Center a voice. Attending the MPCA 2012 Legislative Forum and the NACHC 2012 Policy & Issues Forum are two such opportunities. We hope to see you at both of them!
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Great News for Community Health Centers: Increased Funding for FY 2012
Hopefully you all received the tremendous news from the National Association of Community Health Centers that Congress has passed the Fiscal Year 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Act that funds the Health Centers Program at a total programmatic level of $2.78 billion. This funding will not only maintain current federal grant support for ALL existing Health Centers, but also will provide enough additional funding to EXTEND ACCESS to care to nearly 1.5 additional people in need of care. In the simplest of terms, the Health Centers Program will receive a nearly $200 million increase to grow and expand care to those most in need. To read the full statement from NACHC President and CEO, Tom Van Coverden,
click here.
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World AIDS Day Dec. 1: Leading with Science, Uniting for Action
America's Health Centers are making an impact in the war against HIV/AIDS by providing underserved populations with access to early HIV screening. According to UNAIDS, a joint United Nations program that aims to address the spread of the disease worldwide, in 2010 there were an estimated 34 million people living with AIDS around the globe, resulting in 1.8 million AIDS-related deaths.
World AIDS Day, recognized December 1, was established in 1988 to raise awareness of AIDS and focus attention on the global epidemic.
More than 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately one in five people are not aware they are infected, and an estimated 56,300 Americans are infected with HIV each year.
Michigan Community Health Centers are instrumental in the fight against the disease and provide HIV testing and counseling to medically underserved and low-income populations. In 2010, over 1,100 HIV patients received their care at a Michigan Community Health Center. These community-based healthcare providers conducted over 12,500 HIV tests. Nationally, over 90 percent of Community Health Centers provide onsite HIV testing and counseling, and 781,750 patients were tested for HIV in 2010.
"Community Health Centers are continuing to play a central role in the prevention and diagnosis of HIV and AIDS in the most affected populations in the United States," said Lynda Meade, MPCA Project Manager. "This designated day highlights AIDS prevention and diagnosis, and demonstrates our commitment to work with patients and communities to eradicate this disease."
Efforts are underway in Michigan to increase HIV testing and access to care for HIV patients. For more information about Michigan Primary Care Association efforts, contact Lynda Meade at 517.827.0470 or
lmeade@mpca.net.
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Michigan Advocates Step Up to Save CHCs
With the Super Committee's deadline of passing a deficit reduction proposal on November 23 getting ever closer, Michigan Community Health Centers stepped up their grassroots advocacy efforts last week. Advocates called and messaged Congressmen Dave Camp (R-MI) and Fred Upton (R-MI) - two members of the Super Committee - on November 10 to tell them to protect Health Center funding and preserve Medicaid, the program most vital to Health Centers' viability and to many patients.
To amplify that message, Michigan Health Centers collected over 5,500 signatures and personal letters (and still counting) from patients, staff, board members, and community residents.
To further broadcast the message, Michigan Health Centers submitted press releases, op-eds, and letters to the editor of media outlets across the state.
Yes, it was a very busy grassroots advocacy week for Michigan Health Centers. Michigan Primary Care Association thanks everyone who made calls, encouraged others to make calls, tweeted and posted messages on Facebook, collected and delivered petition signatures and letters of support, and reached out to the media. It is amazing to watch so many voices come together to send one loud, clear, message on behalf of America's Health Centers that serve 20 million people across the country, keep patients healthy, save the health care system $24 billion every year, and create thousands of jobs from coast to coast. We can make a difference, and we will continue to fight for our Health Centers.
Click "Read More" below to learn details about Michigan's advocacy efforts.
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