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August
2007
In
this Issue: Healthcare Feature | Healthcare
Reform Update | Partner Spotlight | Calendar
| Welcome New Partners
| In the News | Interesting Information
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Community Health Centers - Promoting Equity in Health Care
A
new report by the Commonwealth Fund states that achieving equity in
health care involves both the availability of affordable, comprehensive
insurance coverage and the presence of a committed, regular source of
care. For more than forty years, the nationwide network of Community
Health Centers has provided high-quality, affordable primary care and
preventive services to medically un-served and under-served communities.
Read
more about community health centers...
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As
part of CPAT’s ongoing commitment to keep our partners abreast
of California’s health care reform debate, we will be providing
“Year of Health Care” updates with information about the
latest proposals from state leadership.
On
July 11, the state Senate Health Committee voted 7-4 to approve Assembly
Bill 8 (Núñez/Perata), a piece of legislation intended
to extend health insurance to more than 3 million Californians who are
not currently covered. The bill divides new funding responsibility between
employers, individuals, reinvested state dollars and new federal funds.
The bill will be heard next in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
To
view additional information on the latest health care reform proposals,
please visit the CPAT Web site: http://www.caaccess.org/article_yearofhealthcare.html
Sources:
San Jose Mercury News
July 12, 2007
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 The
Children’s Clinic
Mission
The Children's Clinic, Serving Children and Their Families' mission
is "to partner with parents and the community to provide quality
health care services and health education and promotion to needy children
and families."
About
The Children’s Clinic has been serving the Long Beach and South
Bay communities for over 67 years. Ever expanding, the Clinic serves
uninsured and underinsured adults and children, accepting anyone regardless
of their ability to pay. Among the services offered by the Clinic are
primary and preventative care, immunizations, psychological and counseling
services, teen and child health services and lab and pharmaceutical
services. In 2004-2005, the Children’s Clinic conducted over 47,000
visits including over 1,000 eye clinic visits, filled 23,000 medications
and prescriptions and administered 11,000 immunizations.
Web
site
www.thechildrensclinic.org
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Save
the Date!
Be
sure to check out the CPAT
Calendar of Events to find out about upcoming partner conferences,
seminars, fundraisers, and other activities in your area. If you would
like your event listed, please contact Janet at janet@perrycom.com
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Health
Care Improves For Minority Patients When They Have Insurance and a 'Medical
Home'
Medical News Today
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Providing
minority patients a 'medical home' in which they have a regular doctor
or health professional who oversees and coordinates their care would
help eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities and promote more
health care equity, says a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
The report, based on a 2006 survey of more than 2,830 adults, shows
that linking minority patients with a health care setting that offers
timely, well-organized care where they can routinely seek physicians
and medical advice can help them better manage chronic conditions
and obtain critical preventive care services. Click
here for more on how health centers are providing care to uninsured
minority groups.
Community
Health Clinics Flourish, but Doctors Are Few
Government Needs to Entice Physicians, Health Officials Say
Washington Post
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The
Bush administration has increased spending on community health centers
by hundreds of millions of dollars since 2001, helping to open or
expand more than 500 of the facilities and extending basic medical
services to 4.5 million people. But the promise of better health care
for millions of Americans in underserved communities is being undermined
by a chronic shortage of doctors -- one that some officials of the
health centers say the administration has done too little to address.
Click
here to see more information about the crisis facing our nation’s
health clinics.
State
Legislators Endorse Patient-Centered Medical Home
American Academy of Family Physicians
Monday, July 2, 2007
State
lawmakers embraced the patient-centered medical home as an effective
means of reducing costs and improving health care quality during a
June 20-22 round-table meeting of the National Conference of State
Legislatures', or NCSL's, Health Chairs Project. The patient-centered
medical home is "organized around the needs and wishes of the
patient," said Steven Crawford, M.D., of Oklahoma City, during
a recent meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures…
During the event, legislators and guest speakers focused on a variety
of topics addressing health system transformation, including state
and federal health care reform, Medicaid, the State Children's Health
Insurance Program, and the expansion of health care access through
public and private partnerships. Click
here for the full article.
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- Health Centers serve more than 15 million people in the US each
year.
- Uninsured health center patients are twice as likely to get the
care they need than other uninsured.
- Health centers handled nearly 60 million visits (encounters) in
2005.
- Health centers reduce health disparities like access to dental,
gynecological, prenatal, psychological and pharmacy services.
- In 2006, Californians spent $1,829,345,794 on avoidable emergency
room visits.
- Health centers receive, on average, 26% of their funding from federal
grants, 36% from Medicaid and 13% from non-federal grants and contracts.
- Demographics of Health Center patients:
- 92% of patients are low income
- 71% live at or below the poverty line
- 40% are uninsured
- 36% depend on Medicaid
- 66% are racial and ethnic minorities
- 50% reside in rural areas
CA
Access News welcomes contributions from our partners. Please contact
us if you have suggestions for future events and stories by calling
CPAT at (916) 658-0144, Attn: Janet or emailing janet@perrycom.com.
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