***Media Advisory***

September 26, 2023

Certainty on Medicaid Expansion Renews Hope for N.C. Safety-Net Providers & Patients 

With the passage of the state budget ensuring a Dec. 1 launch of Medicaid expansion, community health center leaders anticipate wider availability of specialty services to underserved patients.

PDF: NCCHCA-Statement-Medicaid-Expansion-Implementation-9.26.2023

For too long, hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians have suffered from lack of health coverage, leading to an increase in mortality rates and progression of chronic diseases. Now with a launch date of December 1, 2023, set for Medicaid expansion, the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) and our 43 health center members are relieved more of our patients will gain health coverage and our centers will receive more adequate reimbursements for the services they deliver.

“Medicaid expansion is a phenomenal milestone for N.C.’s community health centers, and it will greatly support the work safety-net providers do to care for historically underserved communities,” NCCHCA CEO Chris Shank commented.

Statewide, N.C. community health centers serve more than 250,000 uninsured patients each year, out of a total patient population of 752,000. Patients who have lacked access to care will be ecstatic to have an insurance card and the ability to receive specialty care, said Michelle Lewis, CEO of Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine.

“Patients will probably say, ‘You mean, I can see an asthma specialist, or cardiologist, or orthopedist now, like others?! I can get cancer treatments now?!’ These will be some of the first thoughts of relief for patients who have struggled to get needed primary and specialty care services,” said Mrs. Lewis, who also serves as chair of the NCCHCA Board of Directors. “Patients will also feel appreciation for the policymakers and advocates who have fought for many years to expand Medicaid.”

NCCHCA and the providers we represent are grateful for the policymakers who led sustained efforts to expand Medicaid, including Governor Roy Cooper, Secretary Kody Kinsley, and Representative Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth) – and others, including NC Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and NC House Speaker Tim Moore, for helping to move Medicaid expansion across the finish line.

During a September 25 press conference, Secretary Kinsley reflected on his personal experience living in the coverage gap: “As some of you know, I grew up in North Carolina without health insurance. I know first-hand the struggle that families face when trying to weigh the risk of going without seeing the doctor or parents pushing off prescriptions because they can’t afford food for their kids.”

Well-prepared to serve as the primary medical home for new Medicaid beneficiaries, community health centers offer integrated, culturally sensitive, whole-person primary care services, plus wrap-around support like care management and transportation assistance, all in one package. Community health centers are also unique in offering dental care and behavioral health care integrated into many sites.

“This is a historical moment for North Carolina and our primary care providers, with Medicaid expansion soon to be effective,” said Mrs. Shank. “Hundreds of thousands of patients have hoped for an expansion of care that has now passed, and hundreds of community health center sites will soon have increased capacity to improve our state’s health outcomes and expand the health care workforce.”

Find your nearest health center: https://ncchca.org/find-a-health-center.

Contact:

Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, 919-996-9208, borrellos@ncchca.org

About NCCHCA:

The North Carolina Community Health Center Association represents 43 Community Health Center (CHC) organizations that operate over 470 clinical sites in 86 N.C. counties and served 752,000 patients in 2022. CHCs (also known as federally qualified health centers, FQHCs) are federally funded, nonprofit, patient-governed organizations with a mission of providing integrated primary, dental, and behavioral health care in primarily underserved and rural areas, without regard for patients’ insurance status or ability to pay.

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Advance Community Health Awarded $80,000 Grant from the Advance Auto Parts Foundation to Expand Health Services

CONTACTS:

• Samone Bullock Dillahunt, Director of Marketing and Community Relations, Advance Community Health, 919-582-0350, sabullock@advancechc.org
• Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, 919-996-9208, borrellos@ncchca.org

Advance Community Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving the Raleigh area, was awarded an $80,000 grant from the Advance Auto Parts Foundation to support patient care, a $30,000 increase from 2022.

The funding will be used to fund two Advance Community Health programs:

• The prescription assistance program, which offers co-pay assistance to patients to help make their medications more affordable.
• Mobile health units, which provide free or low-cost primary and pediatric care at various community sites, such as the Raleigh Women’s Center and multiple affordable housing complexes.

In 2022, the Advance Auto Parts Foundation funding helped provide prescription assistance to over 110 patients, treating a variety of conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and cancer. With the rising costs of prescription medications, program beneficiaries expressed sincere gratitude for this timely support, noting that the money they saved on prescriptions helped them to purchase other things they desperately needed for their family.

Advance Community Health and the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA), the statewide Primary Care Association representing all of N.C.’s Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), express their apperciation to  the Advance Auto Parts Foundation for its generous support and its commitment to improving the health and well-being of underserved communities in the Raleigh area.

About Advance Community Health

Advance Community Health is one of North Carolina’s 43 Community Health Center organizations (also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers). Recently celebrating its 50th year of service, Advance Community Health operates six health center locations and mobile health units throughout the Triangle area.

The mission of Advance Community Health is to deliver quality, compassionate primary health care – every patient, every time – in response to the needs of our communities.

About the Advance Auto Parts Foundation

The Advance Auto Parts Foundation supports the development of a healthy, skilled and diverse workforce prepared to advance the mobility industry in the 21st Century. This is done through the support of programs and initiatives that emphasize employment readiness and the health and wellbeing of others, with an emphasis on underserved populations, including military veterans seeking to join the civilian workforce. The Advance Auto Parts Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Advance Auto Parts, Inc., a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider that serves both professional installers and private customers. Additional information about the Advance Auto Parts Foundation and Advance Auto Parts can be found at https//corp.advanceautoparts.com.

About NCCHCA

The North Carolina Community Health Center Association represents 43 Community Health Center (CHC) organizations that operate over 400 clinical sites in 85 N.C. counties and served 743,000 patients in 2021. CHCs are federally funded, nonprofit, patient-governed organizations with a mission of providing integrated primary, dental, and behavioral health care to underserved and rural communities, without regard for insurance status or ability to pay.

N.C. Community Health Centers Host Over 50 Events Statewide to Mark National Health Center Week, August 6-12

2023 National Health Center Week Release PDF

***Media Advisory ***
August 6, 2023

CONTACT: Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, 919-996-9208, borrellos@ncchca.org

A variety of Federally Qualified Health Centers will pass out free school supplies and bookbags, hold health and wellness fairs, celebrate new site openings, offer free assistance with enrolling in health coverage, host public officials, and more.

Experience a range of fun events, free giveaways, and health resources as National Health Center Week returns from August 6 to August 12, 2023. National Health Center Week is an annual, nationwide celebration of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as community health centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary care, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services to the entire community, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay at over 400 clinical sites across North Carolina.

Serving more than 750,000 patients across N.C., community health centers represent hope and resilience to the diverse populations they serve, which include school children, the uninsured, the unhoused, migrant farmworkers, public housing residents, and more. During this special national week of celebration, community health centers across the state are extending an open invitation to the public to join in the fun as they highlight the strength, unwavering dedication, and compassionate care N.C. health centers provide to our communities.

Click here for a list of the public National Health Center Week events happening across North Carolina this week. (Click the page numbers at the bottom to view all events.)

The 2023 national theme is “Community Health Centers: The Roadmap to a Stronger America.” With more than 50 events that will highlight the contributions of community health centers, attendees will have the opportunity to access health resources, enjoy free giveaways, and take part in exciting community events that offer something for every member of the family.

Throughout this inspiring week, community health centers will work to raise awareness about the affordable health care services they provide and the value they bring to communities across the state. Health centers hope to demonstrate to members of Congress that increased federal funding is needed to ensure continued access to high-quality, affordable healthcare in underserved areas.

Another important part of National Health Center Week is recognizing the contributions of staff, stakeholders, and — most of all — patients, who make up a majority of all health center governing boards. By joining together in celebration and hosting events for their communities, health centers will strengthen bonds and make progress toward a healthier, more vibrant America.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the services community health centers provide on the following focus days:
● Sunday, 8/6 – Public Health in Housing Day
● Monday, 8/7 – Healthcare for People Experiencing Homelessness
● Tuesday, 8/8 – Agricultural Worker Health Day
● Wednesday, 8/9 – Patient Appreciation
● Thursday, 8/10 – Stakeholder Appreciation
● Friday, 8/11 – Health Center Staff Appreciation
● Saturday, 8/12 – Children’s Health’s Day

(more…)

NEW GPO VENDOR ANNOUNCEMENT

NCCHCA Welcomes PicassoMD

The North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) is excited to announce the addition of PicassoMD as our latest vendor member. Our GPO’s primary objective is to enhance shared services and strategic sourcing solutions for health centers across North Carolina. We believe that partnering with PicassoMD will enable us to achieve this goal by offering specialty e-consults through their Curbside platform.

Description of Services

PicassoMD Curbside is an informal interprofessional communication between a primary care provider (PCP) and a specialist. PicassoMD has created an online platform that can rapidly match a PCP with a specialist across nearly 30 service lines to support and augment clinical decision-making. Once connected, providers can communicate through a chat-like interface with the specialist.

All communications and images are exchanged on PicassoMD’s HIPAA compliant mobile/web-based platform, and a transcript of the curbside is automatically generated upon its completion.

With existing engagements with Kintegra Health and Blue Ridge Health, PicassoMD’s joining NCCHCA’s GPO is a natural progression that will expand the range of services available, generate cost savings, and optimize efficiencies for the benefit of our members and their patients.

For inquiries regarding initiating a partnership with PicassoMD, interested health centers should reach out to NCCHCA’s Director of Business Development: Karen Pryce at prycek@ncchca.org.

NCCHCA extends its sincere appreciation to PicassoMD for their dedication and efforts in establishing this collaboration. For additional information, please visit the PicassoMD website or contact Karen Pryce.

PDF of the statement: NCCHCA Statement on Passage of Medicaid Expansion March.22.2023

***Media Release*** 

August 8, 2022 

Contacts: Stacie Borrello, NCCHCA Communications & External Affairs Manager |  borrellos@ncchca.org, 919-996-9208; Brendan Riley, NCCHCA VP, Government Relations & External Affairs | rileyb@ncchca.org, 919-469-1116                     

Expanding Medicaid Would Increase Community Health Center Reimbursement Revenue by 32% on Average, New Analysis Finds 

Passing Medicaid Expansion Would Create Jobs in the Health Care Workforce and Expand Care Access in Rural and Underserved Communities 

Click to view and download the August 2022 Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes. 

A new analysis of North Carolina Community Health Center data released this week shows that expanding Medicaid would not only directly benefit individuals gaining coverage, but it would also significantly increase revenue for North Carolina’s Community Health Centers (CHCs), allowing health centers to expand services and serve more patients. On average, net increases in reimbursements to CHCs would jump by 32.2 percent annually—for health care services they are already providing to their uninsured patients.  

CHCs play an important role as safety-net providers in medically underserved communities. While these Centers do their job well with limited resources, they face challenges because North Carolina has not yet expanded Medicaid. While CHCs are the provider of choice for hundreds of thousands of insured patients, an average of 40 percent of CHC patients are uninsured, putting a strain on CHC operating budgets. 

Because CHCs are required to reinvest all non-grant funds into programs that expand care access for the medically underserved, expanding Medicaid will promote financial stability for these critical safety net providers and allow them to increase capacity. 

“Under Medicaid expansion, we would be getting an additional $3-4 million a year in revenue from Medicaid. Those are dollars that Federally Qualified Health Centers will reinvest into new services and new practice locations,” said Chris Vann, chief development officer at CommWell Health, a Community Health Center with sites in five counties throughout the southeastern region of North Carolina. 

Medicaid expansion would also enable CHCs to make investments in expanding access to care by recruiting more providers to rural communities and expanding service lines like behavioral health and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services. 

“With Medicaid expansion, we can add comprehensive specialties such as cardiology, podiatry, or ophthalmology practices to support our patients with comorbid conditions that we see frequently, like hypertension and diabetes,” said Scot McCray, CEO of Advance Community Health in Raleigh. 

By keeping patients out of the ER and preventing hospitalizations, CHCs help reduce health care spending by approximately 29 percent per patient per year, making health centers a remarkable investment for health care dollars. 

“While we understand that some lawmakers are concerned that expanding Medicaid would create a strain on provider capacity, our research shows that Medicaid expansion would, in fact, bolster our providers’ capacity. Medicaid expansion would mean that our Community Health Centers, who now serve a significant portion of uninsured patients, would receive reimbursements for care that was previously uncompensated, allowing health centers to increase capacity by hiring more staff and expanding programs to serve more patients,” said Brendan Riley, NCCHCA’s Vice President of Government Relations & External Affairs. 

For a detailed look at how Medicaid Expansion would impact Community Health Centers and their patients, refer to the North Carolina Community Health Center Association’s August 2022 Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes. 

About CHCs: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 743,000 people in the state, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. By mission, Community Health Centers provide high-quality care in rural and medically underserved communities and to vulnerable populations, and as such are the backbone of the primary care safety net in North Carolina.

About NCCHCA: The North Carolina Community Health Center Association represents 42 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) member organizations that provide integrated medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 743,000 patients at over 370 clinical service sites in 85 N.C. counties.

Click the link to view and download the two-page Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes

_________________________________________________________________________ 

www.NCCHCA.org | 4917 Waters Edge Drive, Suite 165, Raleigh, NC 27606 | 919-469-5701 

***Media Advisory*** 

August 4, 2022 

Dozens of Sites Celebrate National Community Health Center Week, August 7-13 

Federally Qualified Health Centers to Host Public Officials, Hold Ribbon Cuttings, Provide Free Health Services, and Engage in Public Outreach 

Who: The North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCCHA), which represents 42 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) member organizations that provide integrated medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 685,000 patients at over 370 clinical service sites in 85 N.C. counties.  

Contacts: Stacie Borrello, NCCHCA Communications & External Affairs Manager | borrellos@ncchca.org, 919-996-9208; Brendan Riley, NCCHCA VP, Government Relations & External Affairs| rileyb@ncchca.org, 919-469-1116 

National Health Center Week, August 7-13, 2022, is an annual, nationwide celebration of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary care services to the entire community regardless of insurance status or ability to pay at over 370 sites across North Carolina. The goal of the week-long event is to raise awareness about the mission and value of CHCs and celebrate the contributions of staff, stakeholders, and — most of all — patients, who make up a majority of all CHC governing boards. CHCs across the state are holding over 30 public events in celebration: 

• Four CHCs are celebrating the opening of new sites: Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine in Greensboro, Cabarrus-Rowan CHC in Salisbury, Agape Health Services in Plymouth, and Mountain Community Health Partnership in Burnsville. 
• Many CHCs are holding public events where they will perform health outreach with special populations, which include migrant farmworkers, public housing residents, the unhoused, and children.  
• Several sites are hosting elected officials or their representatives for tours as part of stakeholder recognition efforts, and others are participating in community-wide wellness fairs across the state. 

The North Carolina Community Health Center Association encourages press to attend public events during National Health Center Week to report on the innovative ways our CHCs provide high-quality primary care and enabling services to underserved communities, furthering their mission of improving health outcomes and reducing health disparities.

Click here for a list of the public National Health Center Week Events happening across North Carolina next week. (Click the page numbers at the bottom to view all events.)

Learn more about National Health Center Week at https://healthcenterweek.org. Please reach out to the NCCHCA contacts above for more event details or assistance connecting with a CHC. 

At the 2022 Primary Care Conference in Wilmington, the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) held an awards luncheon to honor a bi–partisan group of lawmakers who have consistently advocated for the needs of Community Health Centers and our patients.  

The Association presented N.C. State Senator Jim Perry (R-Lenoir, Wayne) with our Community Health Advocate of the Year Award, which is presented to lawmakers who have made significant contributions toward the development and support of Community Health Centers and the communities they serve within the past year.  Thanks to Senator Perry’s leadership, North Carolina has enacted protections for affordable medications and other critical Community Health Centers services made possible through the 340B drug discount program.  

NCCHCA also recognized three retiring members of Congress with the Association’s Community Health Champion Legacy Award, which honors their longstanding service, dedication, and advocacy on behalf of Community Health Centers and the patients and communities we serve across North Carolina.  

This year’s Community Health Champion Legacy Awardees were: 

• U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
• U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield (D-NC01)
• U.S. Congressman David Price (D-NC04) 

While they were not able to attend the luncheon in person, the honorees accepted their awards with pre-recorded remarks that were played for attendees.

While we took time to reflect on our shared accomplishments and express gratitude to those policy makers who share our mission, we also looked ahead to our future policy goals, which include expanding Medicaid, protecting the 340B Drug Discount Program, and enhancing Community Health Center funding to support the expansion of needed programs such as increased behavioral health services. 

The Association Notes the Transformative Impact HB 149 Will Have on Patient Care and CHC Operations

The North Carolina Community Health Center Association applauds the N.C. Senate’s passage of HB 149, which would expand Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured North Carolinians and strengthen the state’s Community Health Centers (CHCs), which provide comprehensive primary care services in rural and medically underserved communities without regard to patients’ ability to pay.

Medicaid expansion is the single most transformative state policy the N.C. General Assembly can enact to increase health care access and strengthen the primary care safety net. “Not only will Medicaid expansion help Community Health Centers enhance and expand the services we provide to medically underserved communities, but it will also enable hundreds of thousands of our state’s residents to live healthier lives with more secure access to the care they need,” said Reuben C. Blackwell, IV, President and CEO of OIC of Rocky Mount and Chair of the NCCHCA Board of Directors. “For the sake of our patients and our health care providers, it’s crucial that the North Carolina General Assembly take this important step of expanding Medicaid.”

Statewide, 40 percent of CHC patients are uninsured, while uninsured rates for individual health centers are as high as 70 to 80 percent. When CHCs lack reimbursement for the essential services they provide, it strains their operating budgets and prevents them from expanding their capacity to reach more patients. Expanding Medicaid would also save patients the burden of living with worsening health conditions because they fear the cost of seeking treatment.

In addition to improving health care access and outcomes for patients, Medicaid expansion would generate increased revenue for CHCs, enabling them to hire more clinical staff, extend the availability of services into new areas of the state, and expand needed programs, such as addiction treatment, mobile medical units, and dental services.

We applaud the N.C. Senate for this historic action and call on N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore and the rest of the N.C. House delegation to pass Medicaid expansion to deliver the health care solutions that are vitally important to the health and economic well-being of our state.

September 20, 2021.
Raleigh, NC: The Medication Cost Transparency Act (Senate Bill 257) was signed into law today by Governor Roy Cooper after unanimously passing both chambers of the NC General Assembly earlier this month. This critical legislation protects North Carolinians’ access to care in rural and underserved communities of the state by outlawing discrimination by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) against Community Health Centers’ (CHCs’) pharmacy programs over their participation in the 340B Drug Discount program. Thanks to these efforts, North Carolina’s CHCs can continue doing what they do best—provide comprehensive primary care services, including medical, behavioral health, dental, and pharmacy care, to North Carolinians in rural and underserved communities without regard for their insurance status or ability to pay.

The 340B Drug Discount program enables CHCs to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible, reaching more patients and providing more comprehensive health care services. By discounting the cost of medications for health centers, the 340B program enables health centers to provide affordable medications for their patients and reinvest savings into other key services, like behavioral health, dental, and school-based health programs.

In recent years, PBMs found ways to “pickpocket” CHCs’ 340B savings through discriminatory contracts, boosting PBMs’ bottom lines by forcing CHCs to give up the savings that were meant to benefit their vulnerable patients. If not for Senate Bill 257, 94% of participating Community Health Centers may have to cut patient services supported by 340B savings

On behalf of the state’s 42 Community Health Center organizations that cared for over 685,000 patients in 2020, the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) thanks Governor Cooper for signing this bill into law, and we extend our gratitude to our leaders in the NC General Assembly, especially Senator Jim Perry and Representative Wayne Sasser, for protecting the primary care safety net as part of this legislative effort.