Topic 9: Federally Qualified Health Centers
Relevance to the Underserved Issue
Federally Qualified Health Centers provide underserved areas with an increased amount of healthcare services.
Summary of Key Information
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are on-site health programs and centers that increase health care access in underserved areas. FQHCs were originally developed as an initiative under Medicare to increase the number of primary care physicians in underserved areas. Programs considered FQHCs comprise:
- Centers receiving grants under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act;
- Certain tribal organizations, and FQHC look-alike programs (centers or programs that are not receiving grant funding, but meet the same criteria as FQHCs).
All FQHCs must be located in Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) or serve Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) as designated under the HPSA specifications. FQHCs eligible to receive grant awards are community health centers, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless programs, and public housing primary care programs. Since 1991, FQHCs have received funding under Medicare and Medicaid. A program can only be considered an FQHC if it is public or non-profit. Services provided by FQHCs include primary care, preventive care, mental health and substance abuse care, dental care, in-home care, and transportation assistance needed for medical care. (A complete list of can be found at the website listed below). Services are available to all through a sliding fee scale, and there are no exclusions based on insurance coverage or income level.
Relevant Web Resources
National Rural Assistance Center
http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/clinics/fqhcfaq.php#whatis
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/fqhc.asp
National Conference of State Legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/fqhc.htm