56. Community Health Centers and the President’s HIV Initiative: Issues and Challenges Facing Health Centers in High Burden States and Communities.


February 1, 2019

Policy Brief

The Trump Administration’s newly announced initiative to end the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. by 2030 will require significant expansion of health care and supportive services, including outreach to at-risk populations and communities, services aimed at preventing new infections, and ongoing care and treatment for people living with an HIV diagnosis. Community health centers today serve an estimated 22 percent of people in the U.S. living with HIV/AIDS and receiving care for their condition, and because health centers are now a significant source of care for people at risk for or living with HIV, the President’s initiative intends to rely on their services in both preventing and treating HIV infection.  To meet the goal of ending the epidemic – as is true in all efforts to expand medically necessary care in underserved communities – health centers will need to both ramp up service capacity and have a sustainable means of covering the cost of accessible, affordable high-quality care going forward, according to a new report. The report was authored by Sara Rosenbaum, Peter Shin, Jessica Sharac and Rachel Gunsalus of  the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. 

Download the Report