By Megan Chung, NACHC Intern National Health Center Week begins August 12th and it is an annual, nationwide celebration with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s Health Centers over the past five decades. We hope advocates, providers, staff, and patients will enjoy health centers’ rightly-deserved spotlight, and demonstrate their …
Confidentiality and Medical Records: Do Special Protections Apply?
Since the 1970s, the Federal Government has required that the medical records of patients who receive treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) be given extra protections to ensure confidentiality. These federal rules – commonly known as 42 CFR Part 2 – have recently been revised, and are more extensive than the standard protections required under …
U.S. District Court Judge Blocks Kentucky’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver
U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg (DC) has issued the much anticipated decision on Stewart v. Azar, effectively blocking the implementation of the Kentucky HEALTH Medicaid waiver. Judge Boasberg found that the Kentucky HEALTH waiver, which would make unprecedented changes to the state’s Medicaid program, is not likely to assist in promoting the objectives …
July Fourth Has Us Thinking About Veterans
On this July Fourth holiday the health and welfare of the brave men and women who served in the armed forces are very much on our mind. Community Health Centers provide care to over 335,000 veterans and counting (there’s been a 55 percent increase in their numbers since 2008). Health centers have also hired thousands of veterans …
Trump Administration Issues Final Rule on Association Health Plans
The Trump Administration issued a final rule on Association Health Plans (AHPs), which was proposed earlier this year. This is the first rule finalized after President Trump issued an Executive Order last year to “promote health care choice and competition” in the insurance market. This final rule amends The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) …
Transforming Care for Pregnant Moms and Babies
As a nurse midwife, Sharon Rising found that she often struggled to create a connection with her patients because the constraints of each appointments made meaningful interaction difficult. Yet she also knew as a health professional that such connection is necessary for providers to understand life events that can influence health of each patient – …
A Food Desert in Ohio Welcomes a New Grocery Store, Thanks to a Community Health Center
If you want fresh foods on your table, open your own grocery store. That is what happened in Franklinton, Ohio, on the West side of Columbus, in a community that struggled as a food desert until Lower Lights Christian Health Center opened the Jubilee Market and Cafe. The health center started the nonprofit grocery store …
New: Fact Sheet Highlights the Cost Savings Health Centers Generate for Medicaid
We’ve always known that health centers and Medicaid are ideal partners in the effort to cut health care costs. A host of independent studies, both statewide and national, have confirmed those findings over the course of many years. Now a new NACHC fact sheet based on 2016 federal data showcases those findings and takes a …
Health Centers on the Front Lines of the Opioid Epidemic
The nationwide opioid epidemic is getting a lot of attention in Washington, where there have been hearings focusing on the cause of the public health crisis now claiming thousands of lives. Opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl) killed more than 42,000 people in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to overdose …
Engage at Every Age, Older Americans Month
We are always on the lookout for great stories and we stumbled on the one below from a NACHC member, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) just in time to mark Older Americans Month. EBNHC operates a program called Neighborhood PACE, 1 of 121 PACE programs across the nation and the first in the Bay State. It serves …