Federal Health Centers Improving Care for the Medically Underserved

The federal health centre program awards grants to support health centres: outpatient primary care facilities that provide care to primarily low-income individuals. The program supports four types of health centres: community health centres, health centres for the homeless, health centres for residents of public housing, and migrant health centres. Health centres are required to provide health care to all individuals regardless of their ability of pay and are required to be located in geographic areas that have few health care providers. These requirements make health centres part of the health safety net -- providers that serve the uninsured, the under-served, or those enrolled in Medicaid. This book provides an overview of the federal health centre program including it statutory authority, program requirements, and appropriation levels.