Patients come to community health centers because they provide a variety of services under one roof, from behavior services to nutrition counseling to women’s health care. That makes it convenient for patients to access care.

According to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), the number of patients receiving care in a Community Health Center jumped 62 percent between 2005 and 2014. In 2017, nearly 26 million people are served at approximately 10,400 delivery sites operated by 1,400 health centers.

Lower Medicare Costs

A review of Medicare claims data from 4.4 million beneficiaries in fourteen states found that regions with the the total annual cost of care for health center patients was 10-30 percent lower than Medicare beneficiaries receiving their care elsewhere.

Lower Medicaid Spending

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health by researchers from the University of Chicago Department of Medicine compared Medicaid claims across 13 states, and on average, patients receiving the majority of their primary care at community health centers had 24 percent lower total health care spending than similar patients in other settings.  Health center patients also had 22 percent fewer specialty visits and 25 percent fewer hospitalizations.

“Spending on the Medicaid program is a major policy concern, with states across the country struggling with tight budgets and high Medicaid costs,” said Robert Nocon, Senior Health Services Researcher and lead author of the study. “Receiving primary care at a health center is associated with lower overall health care costs, and the study highlights the importance of understanding the characteristics of health centers and their patients that lead to lower costs.”