Statement of Dan Hawkins, Vice President for Federal, State, and Public Affairs Regarding the President's State of the Union Address
Posted on: Thursday, 3 February 2005, 12:00 CST
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement of Dan Hawkins, vice president for federal, state, and public affairs, National Association of Community Health Centers, regarding the President's State of the Union Address:
America's community health centers deeply appreciate the President's vote of confidence, as well as his plans to make health care more affordable and accessible across the country. The President continues to push forward with his pledge that every poor county in America will have a health center by the end of his second term, and we stand ready to support and help him fulfill that vision. To date, the President, and bi-partisan Members of Congress have set in motion an unprecedented five-year initiative to fund 1,200 new or expanded sites for Community Health Centers that will serve an additional 6.1 million people. Their efforts so far have led to more than 600 new or expanded health centers delivering preventive and primary care to more than 4 million new patients in medically underserved communities across America.
Protecting our nation's health at a time when resources are scarce is an enormous challenge. With the number of uninsured now at 45 million and growing, it will also be important to ensure that Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) remain strong for the more than 50 million low-income people they cover. Nearly 40 percent of health center patients rely on Medicaid and SCHIP today. Thanks to both their Medicaid/SCHIP coverage and the care provided by health centers, their children are born healthy; they have improved health outcomes for chronic diseases, live longer, and are less likely to visit a hospital emergency room for costly treatment.
Affordable health care is worth the investment, even in these difficult times.
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Established in 1971, NACHC is a non-profit organization whose mission is (1) to represent the interests of federally supported and other federally qualified health centers and (2) to serve as an information source concerning issues of health care for poor and medically underserved populations in the United States.
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Source: U.S. Newswire
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