A new analysis finds that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s community health centers are facing critical revenue losses that could significantly affect their ability to sustain operations. The authors examined survey data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on the impact of COVID-19 on health center services and operations, which show both surging demand for COVID-19 related care and a major decline in the use of other health care services. The researchers estimate that between April 3 and July 17, health centers nationwide experienced losses in patient revenue, including Medicaid revenue, of nearly $2.2 billion and find that the five principal sources provided by Congress to stem the effects of revenue losses are either about to expire, or fall far short of what health centers need to both recover and remain stable.
The analysis is authored by Peter Shin, Jessica Sharac, Rebecca Morris, Sara Rosenbaum, Feygele Jacobs.