[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCING A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE BENEFITS AND IMPORTANCE OF 
FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTERS AND THE MEDICAID PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT 
                        SYSTEM FOR SUCH CENTERS

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                   HON. CHARLES W. ``CHIP'' PICKERING

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation 
today calling attention to the essential work of America's community 
health centers in providing quality affordable health care to people 
served by the Medicaid program and the nation's uninsured. I am pleased 
to be joined today by my colleague, the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
Towns, and a number of my House colleagues in supporting this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, community health centers will celebrate their 40th 
anniversary this year as will the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Among 
these programs, Medicaid and community health centers enjoy a special 
relationship, as twin pillars of a broad effort to improve health care 
for poor, minority, and underserved Americans. The two programs in fact 
are specifically designed to work in tandem with one another to make 
access to quality health care a reality for the nation's most 
vulnerable populations.
  Recognizing the importance of this unique relationship, the Congress 
in 1989 made health center services a guaranteed benefit under 
Medicaid. In 2000, I joined with a bipartisan majority of colleagues in 
the Congress to once again reaffirm the importance of this relationship 
by supporting legislation that created the health center Medicaid 
Prospective Payment System. As the Congress intended, this payment 
system has allowed health centers to provide and expand primary care 
and preventive services to more people in need, while promoting 
efficient operation of and ensuring adequate Medicaid reimbursement for 
these centers.
  Today, because of Congress's wise actions, community health centers 
help to form the backbone of America's health care safety net, 
providing quality health care to 15 million underserved individuals 
nationwide, nearly 6 million of whom are enrolled in Medicaid.
  In my own State of Mississippi, health centers are the family doctor 
and medical home for more than 300,000 individuals, more than a third 
of whom are covered by Medicaid.
  However, health centers are doing more than just providing affordable 
quality health care to and improving the health status of the Nation's 
vulnerable populations, they are also delivering cost savings to 
taxpayers and to all payers of health center services. To be sure, 
health centers' costs rank among the lowest, and health centers are 
effectively reducing the need for more expensive hospital in-patient 
and specialty care. In addition, dozens of studies over the past three 
decades have found that health centers save the Medicaid program 30 
percent or more in total annual spending per beneficiary, compared to 
other providers. Studies have also shown that the cost of treating 
Medicaid patients through health centers is 26 to 40 percent lower for 
prescription drugs costs.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe health centers are a top priority of President 
Bush and this Congress because they undoubtedly are providing cost-
effective, high-quality health care to the Nation's poor and medically 
underserved and because they are a vital safety net in the Nation's 
health delivery system. I urge my colleagues to show their support for 
America's community health centers by supporting this important 
legislation.

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