Colorado Community Health Centers Welcome New Medicaid Patients




NEWS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2014

Contact:

Maureen Maxwell, CCHN
(303) 867-9530
(303) 913-9078 (mobile)
Maureen@cchn.org


Colorado Community Health Centers Welcome New Medicaid Patients

DENVER― Colorado Community Health Centers welcome new Medicaid patients in communities around Colorado.

More than 411,000 Coloradans enrolled in health coverage in the first year of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including more than 265,500 who are newly enrolled in Medicaid. A top priority for the ACA was to expand the Medicaid program to extend health coverage to more low-income uninsured. As Colorado’s Medicaid enrollment has surged past one million, Community Health Centers provide critical access to primary care services to newly enrolled Medicaid patients across Colorado.

“Providing access to quality care for the underserved is an essential part of our mission,” said Polly Anderson, chief operating officer of Colorado Community Health Network, which represents the 18 nonprofit Community Health Centers that form the backbone of Colorado’s primary care safety-net. “CHCs offer extended hours on some weekdays and weekends to help working families get the care they need when they need it.”

CHCs combine primary care, dental, mental health and case management services, a model that is well positioned to treat the newly insured, who often struggle with chronic health conditions and pent up demand for care. CHCs also employ bi-lingual staff that can speak to patients in Spanish, and other languages in some areas, and provide guidance regarding health insurance options to people who want help understanding of the health care system.

Health insurance requires access to care. This is especially crucial in rural areas, where primary care providers can be difficult to find. Colorado CHCs currently serve one in eight Coloradans, including many enrolled in Medicaid. A multi-year workforce recruitment campaign aims to add thousands of new primary care providers to meet the new demand, and continue to care for those that remain uninsured.

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To interview Ms. Anderson or for additional information, please contact Maureen Maxwell at (303) 867-9530 or Maureen@cchn.org.

 

The Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN) is the unified voice for Colorado’s 18 Community Health Centers (CHCs) and their patients. CHCs provide a health care home to almost 650,000 of their community members – more than one in eight people in Colorado – from 60 of the state’s 64 counties. Without CHCs, hundreds of thousands of Colorado’s low-income families and individuals would have no regular source of health care. CCHN’s mission is to increase access to high quality health care for people in need in Colorado. For more information about CCHN, please visit www.cchn.org.