The Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday nearly $300 million in new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act funding for community health centers to expand primary care services and help more uninsured consumers enroll in coverage.
The funds, the agency said, will help address the need for more doctors as more Americans get insured under PPACA. HHS said nearly 1,300 facilities nationwide will receive the grants, allowing them to hire about 4,700 primary care doctors full time and stay open longer.
Primary care doctors have been under increased demand, especially since the implementation of PPACA. Reports have suggested that a doctor shortage will grow increasingly worse in the coming years, putting health care for many families at risk.
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The Annals of Family Medicine predicts a nationwide shortage of 52,000 primary care physicians by 2025.
Funds also are aimed to help more uninsureds get coverage, just as the second enrollment period in the law is set to begin Nov. 15. Health centers provided enrollment assistance to more than 6 million people in the last year, HHS said.
"Health centers are a key part of how the Affordable Care Act is working to improve access to care for millions of Americans," HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement. "These funds will enable health centers to provide high-quality primary health care to more people including the newly insured, many of whom may be accessing primary care for the first time."
It's the latest of many announcements about PPACA funding as of late. On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Minority Health announced $3.2 million in funding to help racial and ethnic minorities enroll in health coverage under the law.
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