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Maine’s community health centers provide comprehensive primary care to over 175,000 Mainers annually. Despite their continued growth, these health centers continue to operate at less than 1% of the state’s total health care bill. Nevertheless, the costs of providing high quality, comprehensive primary care – including integrated behavioral health care – to a growing population of underserved, uninsured or underinsured has placed extreme demands and stress on the primary care safety net, which faces some of the highest regulatory hurdles in the market. This environment puts a premium on policy initiatives in Augusta and Washington, DC. For information on becoming a community health center supporter, click here.
Maine Primary Care Association is invested in shaping both state and federal public policies impacting Maine’s community health centers and the patients they serve. Over the years, MPCA has been a consistent and vocal advocate for increased support of the high quality primary care that community health centers provide throughout Maine.
MPCA promotes public policy that strengthens our primary care safety net and opposes legislation that would negatively impact and restrict access among our medically underserved areas and populations to primary and preventive care.
During Maine’s 125th Legislature presently underway, MPCA advocates for a number of measures that would increase access to care and services and support the efforts of our safety net. These include:
- Restoration of universal access to childhood vaccine
- Creation of a Maine dental school with community-based training to induce a greater supply of dental professionals caring for the underserved
- Engagement in payment reform efforts aimed at reducing waste in Maine’s health care system and improving the cost and quality of care, and ensuring that such efforts: (a) recognize the important value that CHCs – with their proven track record of providing efficient, high quality care – can play in our health care system; and (b) reimburse CHCs in such a way that furthers that ability and recognizes the challenges of primary care in underserved areas and health care disparities due to socioeconomic variation.
At the federal level, MPCA similarly works to support the safety net, improve health outcomes, and reduce the numbers of uninsured in the country. We conduct this work in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers.
MPCA also supports health center events throughout the year that engage our state and federal policy-makers. The pinnacle of this work is National Community Health Center Week in August which features health center activity across Maine.
For more information on our advocacy efforts and our legislative goals, contact Kevin Lewis, CEO.
Become an Advocate
The Maine Primary Care Association’s success in presenting the value of Maine’s community health centers relies on health center advocates. Your involvement as a supporter of health centers is essential to communicating to policymakers the vital care and services provided by our safety net of health centers. It takes a small investment of your time, keeps you informed of our policy agenda and provides a real impact on policy development.
The demand placed on individual advocates is minimal. In many cases it is simply sending an email, but the outcomes of a coordinated response can truly generate change. In fact, in most cases a brief email from you to your representatives can make a significant difference, drawing attention to issues that might otherwise be overlooked.
To become a health center advocate, simply click here and join our online grassroots forum.
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