Study: CHC use increases after landmark Mass. reform

A new study published by the American Medical Association found that after adoption of landmark health reform in Massachusetts, visits to community health centers increased substantially (Source: “Many use safety-net health care despite MA reform,” Reuters Health, Aug. 9, 2011).

The study, Saftey-Net Providers After Health Care Reform, was published in AMA's Archives of Internal Medicine. 

Researchers found that visits to community health centers in Massachusetts increased 31 percent between 2005 and 2009."We are now concerned about how we can rein in spending in healthcare, so there will be a certain temptation to cut back on the funding to safety-net providers," said Leighton Ku, who led the study and heads the Center for Health Policy Research at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

More than 70 percent of the survey respondents said they'd chosen a safety-net facility because it was convenient or affordable. And only a quarter said they had done so because they had trouble getting an appointment elsewhere.