More than 800 leaders of community health centers and primary care groups representing every state are asking congressional leadership to protect and stabilize the program, which covers about 80 million people, according to a letter shared first with STAT. “This has the potential to really break things,” Amanda Pears Kelly, CEO of Advocates for Community […]
Community health executives from all 50 states signed a letter outlining how substantial reductions in Medicaid funding would come at a cost for our nation’s largest primary care system. WASHINGTON – Advocates for Community Health (ACH), a nonpartisan membership organization for federally qualified health centers working to advance forward-thinking health policies, led over 800 […]
Today, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) released a report on his years-long investigation into the practices and policies of 340B stakeholders. Included in his report are two community health centers, Sun River Health and Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. The report includes a summary of both organizations’ 340B programs and clearly details the extensive efforts both […]
As the House and Senate move forward with the budget reconciliation process, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) urges lawmakers to work closely with community health centers to protect Medicaid funding that helps address chronic illness and strengthens America’s primary care system. “Our members—some of the nation’s largest community health centers—are committed to keeping care accessible,” […]
Senior leaders from more than 30 of the nation’s largest federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) recently met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the future of the Health Center Program and advocate for reliable, long-term funding. During the Advocates for Community Health (ACH) Annual Member Meeting on March 25-27,2025, health policy leaders shared their insights and […]
Nearly 60 years after the Health Center Program was founded out of the Civil Rights Movement, the need for health care in our underserved communities has never been greater. The rising number of challenges health centers face is staggering, and the difference that the Health Center Program makes in our nation’s health is far too […]
Medscape recently interviewed ACH’s CEO Amanda Pears Kelly about how health centers are poised to expand vision care services to people who have difficulty getting that care. However, according to a recent study, they have been severely underused and are facing an unprecedented funding crisis. The study’s senior author Aiyin Chen, MD, and her colleagues […]
Medicaid’s success as a national program derives from its variation across states. Medicaid looks different in every state and territory because the program is able to reflect and accommodate the specific needs of that state’s patients, providers and communities. These state-based programs are vital to the patients served by community health centers, patient-directed primary care providers that […]
Each year, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) nominates an Advocate of the Year, an award to recognize an individual from a member community health center who has excelled in grassroots advocacy. The Advocate of the Year provides policy and advocacy leadership to ACH through its committees, promotes public policies to significantly impact the Health Center […]
Community health care centers provide primary and preventive care to millions of patients, many of them low-income, whether they are insured or not. In many parts of the country, they are the only health care centers offering primary care besides hospital emergency departments. Community health centers across the country have been affected, but unevenly. Advocates […]