New Jersey Primary Care Association
April 9, 2018, Assembly Budget Committee Remarks
Good afternoon members of the Assembly Budget Committee. My name is Jillian Hudspeth and I am the President and CEO of NJPCA, the New Jersey Primary Care Association. NJPCA represents the 24 Federally Qualified Health Centers and their 134 delivery sites in New Jersey. This year, we welcomed Osborn Family Health Center as the newest FQHC look-alike in New Jersey. Federally Qualified Health Centers, also known as Community Health Centers, provide affordable, quality, and efficient primary healthcare to a half a million of the most vulnerable New Jerseyans inevery county of our State.
Cost Efficient Healthcare.New Jersey FQHCs save our state valuable funding through efficient healthcare management. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ’s) Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the average per person per day cost of care at all non-FQHC physician settings is $4.18. In stark contrast, the average per patient per day cost is $2.44 at FQHCs nationwide and only $1.71 at New Jersey FQHCs. New Jersey FQHCs provide care to all patients regardless of their ability to pay. Community Health Centers save taxpayers money by keeping patients out of the emergency room.
Need Outpacing Budget. Community Health Centers were allocated $32 million inthe 2019 State Budget to provide Uncompensated Care. Today,I am requesting an additional $5 million. Between 2016 and 2017, FQHCs experienced an increase of about 18,000 uninsured patients. Typically, each patient visits a Center on average three times per year, which results in an additional 54,000 uninsured visits across the State. It is a safe assumption that the uninsured visits, (also referred to as uncompensated or LOA visits), between 2018 and 2019 will thereforeincrease by at least that number, especially with the addition of a new Health Center. Each uninsured patient visit costs around $101, so FQHCs need an additional $5.4 million in Uncompensated Care funding. FQHCs need the additional funding to continue to serve our communities, get people healthy so that we can get the best value for our money on the front end rather than pay more in emergency room costs.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and your continued support of New Jersey’s Community Health Centers.
CONTACT: Kelsey McMillen, NJPCA’s Policy and Outreach Coordinator at (609) 689-9930 x26.