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Affordable Care Act Creates Greater Role for Community Health Centers

Number of Health Centers to Double by 2015

One of the provisions of the newly enacted health care reform legislation provides an additional $11 billion in dedicated funding for community health centers, or CHCs, during the next five years. That funding increase will double the size and reach of CHCs by 2015 and give them a much greater role in the evolving health care system, according to analysts interviewed by AAFP News Now.


Currently, the nation's community health centers are funded at $2.2 billion annually and provide care to 20 million people through about 7,000 sites nationwide. The additional $11 billion in funding called for in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (at the THOMAS website, type "H.R. 3590" in the search field after selecting "Bill Number") will allow CHCs to serve 40 million people by 2015 and will double the number of CHC sites.

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