By John Ballard
No wonder opponents of health care reform are shifting into panic mode. If they don't move rapidly benefits of the legislation will be so apparent that any hope of change (to coin a phrase) will vanish.
The historic bill signed today by President Obama includes provisions Senator Sanders long advocated for, including $10 billion over five years to expand, construct and operate community health centers. It also increases the investment in the National Health Service Corps to train more primary care doctors and other health care professionals. Another $2.5 billion for health centers operations is in the reconciliation package.
All told, the legislation will double the number of health center sites nationally over the next five years from 7,500 to 15,000. The number of patients served by these facilities will rise from 20 million today to about 40 million by 2015. That means most Americans will have access to primary care, dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost prescription drugs on a sliding-fee scale so that no one is turned away. Since 18,000 Americans die annually due to their inability to afford insurance or care, these facilities are literally life-saving changes in our health care system.?000?
According to researchers at George Washington University, the healthcare centers will save Medicaid $17 billion over the five-year period that would otherwise be spent on more expensive hospital and emergency room care. The American Academy of Family Physicians found that total medical expenses for health center patients were 41 percent lower compared to patients seen elsewhere.
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