Chicago Family Health Center Viewpoint: Congress did the right thing and America is better for it

Our Congressman, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., and President Obama gave America a huge victory this week with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). The bill lowers out of pocket expenses for millions, guarantees choices for how people receive care, and expands access to health care. Most significantly it advocates for a basic health care principle that health advocates have maintained for years: Good health promotes productivity, especially for those suffering from chronic illness.

We are hopeful because this bill encourages providers to switch their focus from curing the sick to helping people stay healthy throughout their lifetimes. At Chicago Family Health Center, we’re on the front lines of health care, and are proud to have met the health needs of underserved residents of the south side of Chicago for more than 32 years. We offer a broad range of services for patients with chronic diseases, and are proud to offer access to medical services for those unable to pay. We know how important it is to eradicate chronic illness, to reduce preventable illness and to curb the debilitating impact that chronic disease has on society.

H.R. 3590 is long overdue and we are excited that it will impact thousands of community health centers around the country like Chicago Family Health Center. The bill’s provisions include $11 billion for health center expansion – including $1.5 billion for capital needs -- and $1.5 billion for the National Health Service Corps to place an estimated 15,000 providers in communities with a shortage of doctors, like ours. These investments will strengthen the health care system to handle the influx from expanding Medicaid to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level. This will cover some 16 million more Americans.

Last year our facilities provided more than 108,000 visits for patients seeking non-urgent care. If those patients had sought care in an emergency room they would have incurred a charge in excess of $1,200, nearly 10 times the cost of a visit to our centers. We applaud our Congressman, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. for putting people ahead of politics and voting for the bill. And we thank President Obama for his leadership, for signing this bill and for giving our generation a pivotal role in ensuring that people are self-sufficient and free of preventable disease. The President and Congress did the right thing and America is better for it.

Warren Brodine
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Family Health Center

Carl Toren, MD MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Chicago Family Health Center