**Update: This afternoon the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, part of this package was stop-gap, two-year funding of the Health Care Trust Fund which funds Federally Qualified Health Centers.
The federal government will be winding down funding programs for low-income healthcare providers over the course of the next few years. One that provides funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers will be gone at the end of September if not reauthorized, which would mean $133 million lost by the state per year.
$1 billion per year in funding used by hospitals to defer costs from uninsured and underinsured are scheduled to wind down over the course of the next few years.
Several other sources are also going to be off the table soon,to go towards expanding coverage through the Affordable Care Act instead.
These funding streams going away will have less impact in other states than here because Texas didn't expand its Medicaid program through the ACA. The cost of underinsured residents who are unable to pay for healthcare is already on the rise. This will be borne by providers in the near term, and ultimately by state and county governments.
What will it mean for us in Bexar County? What will it mean for low-income Texans trying to access care?
Guests:
- George Hernandez, President and CEO of University Health System, which runs the county's indigent health program.
- Paul Nguyen, President and CEO of Communicare Health Centers, which had a number of sliding scale clincis and Federally Qualified Health Centers.
