A new blog on the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point, examines how community health center patients and providers have been directly and adversely affected by the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The blog is authored by the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health.
Based on a series of focus groups with a range of staff from health centers and state primary care associations in fifteen states, the authors found that with fewer community resources available to patients, more patients are turning to CHCs. Amidst a shrinking workforce and challenging policy environment, the increasing demand for services including reliable long-acting contraception, prenatal care, and high-risk maternity services has elevated concerns about access to care and health center capacity.
The blog underscores the policy responses needed to address these threats to health care access and quality, emphasizing the importance of perinatal support and care coordination, payment initiatives, and specific efforts to tackle challenges in maternity deserts and rural areas. To ensure that medically underserved communities have timely access to essential care, and that health centers are able to serve them, concerted and rapid policy action is crucial.
Read more here: In States with Abortion Bans, Community Health Center Patients Face Challenges Getting Reproductive Health Care.
An earlier blog with initial findings from this Commonwealth Fund-supported project was published in June 2024, Stressors Stack Up on Essential Maternity Providers — Community Health Centers Need Support in a Post-Dobbs World.