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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amy Simmons Farber, 202-309-0338

WASHINGTON D.C. – The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) will kick off a Fly-In Event on May 13 on Capitol Hill to advocate for the protection of critical Medicaid services for Community Health Center (CHC) patients, as Congress works through budget reconciliation and debates key Medicaid policy proposals. This comes on the heels of thousands of CHC advocates sending more than 20,000 emails and calls to Congress in support of Medicaid. 

Representing 32.5 million patients nationwide, 16 million of whom are insured through Medicaid, a delegation of more than 100 CHC leaders will meet with policymakers from both sides of the aisle to bring attention to the vital partnership between CHCs and Medicaid. 

Not only is this partnership fundamental to improving Americans’ health, it also generates significant cost-savings for taxpayers. While CHCs care for one in five people in the U.S. who have health insurance through Medicaid, they only account for 2.3% of Medicaid spending. 

“Medicaid is the lifeblood of health centers. CHCs proudly serve more than 16 million people insured through Medicaid who include veterans, children, seniors, farmers, ranchers and working families,” says Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO of NACHC. “Cuts in Medicaid can trigger a cascade of health center site closures and service reductions that ultimately cost taxpayers more through increased emergency department visits, preventable hospitalizations, and more costly specialty care.” 

As such, hard-working Americans stand to lose quality healthcare and critical savings if Medicaid services are not protected. NACHC seeks to ensure policymakers understand the real-world impact these decisions have on the communities they serve. 

About the National Association of Community Health Centers

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is the leading national innovative change agent collaborating with affiliates and partners to advance Community Health Centers as the foundation of an equitable health care system free from disparities and built on accessible, patient-governed, high-quality, integrated primary care.

Community Health Centers (CHCs), which serve 32.5 million patients nationwide, have a proud tradition of ensuring access to affordable, high-quality care for all in the communities we serve regardless of ability to pay – and that includes life-saving medications like insulin and injectable epinephrine. 

For over 30 years, the 340B program has enabled CHCs to deliver affordable and comprehensive primary care to patients who need it most. By law, regulation, and mission, every penny that CHCs save through 340B discounts is used to make medication affordable for low-income patients and to expand access to preventive care services. Unfortunately, in recent years CHCs have lost critical resources from the 340B program, jeopardizing patients’ access to affordable medications and comprehensive primary care. 

We are grateful that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and the Trump Administration have publicly expressed their support for CHCs’ 60-year-record of fighting chronic disease and lowering healthcare costs. We cannot emphasize enough how vitally important the 340B program is for the working families who need affordable medications and depend on CHCs for care, and we are concerned that proposals outlined in the Order could inadvertently limit these patients’ access to comprehensive primary care. 

As safety-net providers committed to ensuring affordable access to prescriptions and to primary care, CHCs are already part of the solution – not the problem. America’s CHCs look forward to working with the Trump Administration to reform the program and improve our ability to make Americans healthy through comprehensive, affordable medicines and care for the patients we serve.

Follow this link to read the Executive Order.

Washington, DC – Community Health Center supporters from around the country have sent more than 20,000 calls and emails to Congress urging for action to pass funding on behalf of the millions who need affordable primary care services.  

“Given the expiration of health center funding in a matter of days, NACHC recognizes the pending Continuing Resolution extending health center and primary care workforce funding,” said Joe Dunn, NACHC’s Chief Policy Officer. “However, any short-term extension presents challenges since it does not provide the certainty necessary to plan, retain or recruit staff, or increase funding to serve the 32.5 million patients who count on health centers for care. Health centers face significant financial challenges, with nearly half operating with unsustainable margins and 42 percent of health centers operating on 90 days of cash reserves or less. NACHC urges Congress to come together on a bicameral, bipartisan basis to advance legislation that provides longer-term and increased health center and primary care workforce funding, as you did in the December 2024 health package.”  

In a Capitol Hill briefing this week, health center leaders and members of Congress described how health centers save the health system money and provide high-quality care to one in 10 Americans.  

As the nation’s largest network of primary care providers, health centers are poised to play a key role in solving America’s healthcare problems, said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).  

“Community Health Centers are part of the solution,” said Marshall, noting the importance of coaching patients in areas like better nutrition and management of chronic disease. 

U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL) a co-chair of the bipartisan Community Health Center Caucus in the House of Representatives, underscored the importance of fighting for sustained and reliable funding for health centers, and expressed gratitude to the CHCs from around the country who traveled to Capitol Hill to press lawmakers for action. “Thank you for your advocacy,” he said.  

“Deployed well, the Community Health Center model is the gold standard for cost-effective, high-quality primary care,” said Aaron Todd, CEO of the Iowa Primary Care Association. 

The panel described how health centers are a healthcare lifeline in rural America. In Illinois, where the Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation is located, President and CEO Kim Mitroka said it has taken decades for her health center to expand services into 10 different counties, where some communities do not even have a grocery store. She credits telehealth with increasing access to critical services, saying, “Our patients have additional resources that would otherwise be unavailable.” 

“Nationally, health centers continually produce higher quality outcomes at a lower cost. And we find that health center patients make fewer visits to emergency rooms and hospitals,” said Patrick Sallee, President and CEO of Vibrant Health in Kansas City. Sallee explained how health centers deliver care that is both cost efficient and high quality, in part due to their collaborative model, where all care teams work together. 

NACHC’s Board Chair Health Paloma Izquierdo-Hernandez, who is also the President and CEO of  Urban Health Plan in New York, emphasized that health centers need longer-term funding to effectively plan and care for 32.5 million Americans. 

“Health centers need not only continued funding at the current level but increased funding for longer periods of time,” explained Hernandez. “It’s really hard to run an organization when you’re not sure where your next dollar is coming from or for how long.” 

House lawmakers passed a Continuing Resolution yesterday that extends health center and primary care workforce funding until the end of September. The Senate now has until this Friday to pass the measure or risk a government shutdown.   

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) will host a Capitol Hill briefing featuring congressional champions and Community Health Center (CHC) advocates from around the country. The briefing will focus on the urgent need to pass funding for CHCs before it expires this month.  

Just this past weekend (March 8), the House Republican Majority released a new continuing resolution (C.R.) to fund health centers at level funding through September 30th, 2025. Additionally, the funding for primary care workforce programs (National Health Service Corps and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program) would continue through September, along with extending the current Medicare telehealth flexibilities. While these extensions are a relief, health centers need longer-term and increased funding to effectively plan and care for 32.5 million Americans.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 11, 9-10:00 AM 

WHERE:  Capitol Visitors Center, SVC-212-10  

SPEAKERS:

Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS)

Representative Danny Davis (D-IL)

Paloma Izquierdo-Hernandez, Board Chair, NACHC, President & CEO, Urban Health Plan, New York

Aaron Todd, CEO, Iowa Primary Care Association

Patrick Sallee, President & CEO, Vibrant Health, Kansas

Kim Mitroka, President & CEO, Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation, Illinois 

OPEN TO PRESS. Coffee and refreshments will be served.  

RSVP to [email protected] no later than Friday, March 7. 

CHCs are the largest primary care network in the country, providing cost-effective primary care to one in 10 Americans (32.5 million people) while representing just 1% of U.S. healthcare spending. The Congressional Budget Office confirms that health centers generate significant savings through reduced hospitalizations and improved health outcomes. With a track record of saving lives and taxpayer dollars, CHCs have longstanding bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

As the House and Senate leadership continue their deliberations on the FY 2025 budget resolutions, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) urges Congress to seriously consider the impact of proposed cuts to Medicaid on safety-net programs.  

Fifty percent of Community Health Center (CHC) patients (16 million of 32.5 million served nationwide) rely on Medicaid and have few other options for healthcare coverage. CHCs have a strong track record of delivering substantial savings to the health care system, including Medicaid, by providing affordable, effective primary care and reducing utilization of higher cost settings, such as Emergency Departments. NACHC urges lawmakers to oppose any cuts to Medicaid that would impact access to essential health services for millions of Americans. 

We are encouraged by statements from President Trump and Speaker Johnson that the most damaging proposals regarding Medicaid have been taken off the table. NACHC will continue to engage both sides of the aisle to understand how proposed changes to Medicaid will impact CHCs, patients, and healthcare costs. CHCs and Medicaid work together to make Americans healthy, and it is essential for lawmakers to protect Medicaid benefits for those who rely on the program for access to primary and preventive care. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                

Contact: Amy Simmons Farber, (202) 309-0338, [email protected]

Bethesda, MD—The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and Community Health Center (CHC) leaders are taking center stage at the 2025 ViVE Conference in Nashville, TN, to highlight how CHCs embrace innovation and technology to reduce health disparities across the nation.

NACHC’s participation in ViVE is part of its partnership with HLTH, Inc., which hosts ViVE annually in addition to other events. The partnership, launched in 2024, was created to inspire thought leadership around primary care, drive innovation, catalyze partnerships, and advance culturally competent primary care.

“NACHC is excited to be a partner at this year’s ViVE Conference,” said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO of NACHC. “Through our partnership, we are introducing digital health decisionmakers at ViVE to leaders in the CHC field, with the ultimate goal of advancing collaborative work to help build a better and more equitable health system for our local communities.”

As our nation’s largest primary care network with a workforce of over 310,000, CHCs serve over 32.5 million patients or 1 in 10 people across over 16,00 locations in rural and urban areas. Together, they represent an annual expenditure of greater than $46 billion in 2023, with a projected growth to at least $55 billion in 2025—which is 1-2% of all US healthcare spending to serve 10% of the US population with comprehensive, integrated primary care that also addresses the broader drivers of health.

NACHC will be hosting multiple sessions featuring CHC leaders during the event, which takes place from February 16-19:

  • America’s Health Centers: Primary Care for ALL (February 16, 3-4pm)
  • Community Health Centers: Leveraging Technology for Primary Care and Health Equity (February 16, 3pm-5pm)
  • “The Beat” Podcast Interview with Dr. Leana Wen and Dr. Kyu Rhee (February 17, 9-9:30am)
  • Ohh I Want There To Be Care in My City (February 17, 10am-10:45am)
  • Best Kept Secrets in Healthcare (February 17, 3pm-4pm)
  • HLTH Foundation Techquity award
  • Lean on Payer & Provider Partnerships for Whole Person Care (February 18, 9:35am-10am)
  • Techquity Tank (February 18, 1pm-2:30pm)
  • CHCs: Making America Healthy One Community at a Time (February 19, 10am-11am)

Our Vision

NACHC is the leading innovative change agent collaborating with affiliates and partners to advance Community Health Centers as the foundation of an equitable health care system free from disparities and built on accessible, patient-governed, high-quality, integrated primary care.