Massachusetts Health Insurance Law Leads To Increased Use Of Community Health Centers

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 01 Oct 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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The number of Massachusetts residents visiting community health clinics has increased over the past year, in part because of the state's new health insurance law, the Boston Globe reports. Kerin O'Toole, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said, "We are front and center in the new health care legislation," adding, "We've seen quite a surge in demand. Although in many cases, patients could go elsewhere, the health centers offer a whole range of services you can't get from a private provider."

Health centers offer such services as substance abuse treatment, child and prenatal care, and dental care. In addition, most centers have outreach programs to help people fill out forms and select health insurance plans. In 2006, 760,301 patients visited the health centers, an increase of nearly 94,000 since 2005, the Globe reports.

Alan Sager, director of the health reform program at the Boston University School of Public Health, said part of the reason community centers are seeing more patients is that three of the four health insurers working with the state's Commonwealth Care program tend to direct beneficiaries to the centers. However, Sager said he is concerned that the centers might not be able to hire enough physicians to meet demand. He asked, "If health centers were deluged by dozens more patients every day, how quickly could they respond?"

B. Dale Magee, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said, "The community health centers rely heavily on primary care physicians, and if there is a shortage in the state, the centers would be exposed to that shortage" (Preer, Boston Globe, 9/27).

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