Community Health Centers Seek Enrollment Support Amid Medicaid Redeterminations

Community health centers serve the communities that are most likely to experience widespread coverage loss once Medicaid redeterminations are underway and they are looking for help in maintaining coverage in their patient populations, a survey from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) determined.

“Patients who lose Medicaid coverage can still access care at health centers, who treat everyone who seeks care regardless of their ability to pay,” the press release explained. “As millions of health center patients become uninsured, centers will face shrinking Medicaid revenue and increased costs from caring for more uninsured patients.”

NACHC surveyed over 400 community health centers. The centers represented populations from every state and US territory.

Eight out of ten community health center patients have coverage through a public payer like Medicaid or are uninsured. As a result, community health centers depend on federal income. A large influx of federal dollars will disappear when the public health emergency is over, leaving community health plans concerned about their financial stability and their futures.

Out of the community health centers that were surveyed, 58 percent of the respondents expected that 10 percent or more of their Medicaid beneficiaries would lose coverage. Twenty-eight percent reported that Medicaid redetermination would cause 15 percent or more of their Medicaid-covered patients to lose their health insurance.

The community health centers anticipated that almost three-quarters (72 percent) of their patients with chronic disease management needs would lose coverage. Individuals with chronic diseases can suffer major health setbacks without regular visits. Loss of coverage could mean that individuals with chronic diseases will forego care, leading to poorer health outcomes.

The public health emergency unwinding could have implications beyond patient outcomes. Most community health center participants expressed concern that the loss of Medicaid income and increased uncompensated care could lead to financial and operational challenges (85 percent).

The centers projected a negative feedback loop in which patient outcomes decline due to lack of health insurance coverage, health centers become strained because of financial and operational difficulties, which cause patients to experience longer wait times and other operational challenges. More than four in ten community health center patients may find their access to certain enabling services is limited as centers try to cut costs.

Most health centers anticipated longer waiting times (62 percent). More than half of the respondents expected patients to lose access to enabling services (52 percent) and some anticipated loss of access to certain clinical services (42 percent). Meanwhile, other participants shared that it may prove harder to schedule a same-day appointment (44 percent).

Community health centers sought outreach and enrollment support during the unwinding.

“Health centers are ramping up outreach to patients currently enrolled in Medicaid, but resources are spread thin,” the survey explained.

Three-quarters of the respondents said that more funding would help their efforts to keep patients insured.

Community health centers played a vital role during the coronavirus pandemic, helping with population health management and vaccination uptake. As the nation navigates the public health emergency unwinding, many are bracing for widespread coverage loss and the ripple effects that such a dramatic decrease could have on an overworked healthcare system.