NAPH Urges HRSA to More Flexibly Interpret FQHC Requirements As They Apply to Public Hospital Community Clinics - May 11, 2010

Members from NAPH met on April 27 with Jim Macrae, Associate Administrator of the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to urge the agency to more flexibly interpret the Public Health Service Act’s statutory requirements so that public hospital community clinics may achieve federally qualified health center status. Despite the fact that public hospital community clinics provide the same care and are often held to an even higher level of accountability and transparency than is required of federally qualified clinics, these public entities are limited in their ability to delegate authority over clinic operations to a community based board. This limitation has resulted in a significant barrier to qualifying for FQHC status and the improved Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates associated with this status.