HHS touts health law as expanding access for millions to clinics

Millions will have access to healthcare at local clinics thanks to investments contained in the 2010 healthcare overhaul and the economic stimulus package, the federal health department announced. 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that the Affordable Care Act will have funded the construction of more than 300 new community health centers by 2014.

Sixty-seven have been completed so far, it said.

{mosads}Nearly 200 local clinics have also undergone renovations because of the law, and that number will rise to roughly 675 in the next two years, the Department said.

The announcement was the second in two days from federal health officials touting the 2010 healthcare law, which remains embroiled in controversy.

“For many Americans, community health centers are the major source of care that ranges from prevention to treatment of chronic diseases,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. 

“President Obama’s health care law is making our community health centers stronger.”

Overall, the Affordable Care Act and the Recovery Act have given 3 million additional patients access to clinics since they were enacted, the announcement stated.

An additional 1.3 million patients will have access to community healthcare in the next two years, it said.

Sebelius announced two new awards Tuesday to expand local healthcare facilities and address “pressing” equipment needs.

These grants of federal money — approximately $629 million and $99.3 million, respectively — will expand access for an additional 860,000 patients in underserved communities, the announcement read.

Sebelius added that the investment will support “good paying jobs in communities across the country.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday that seniors have saved $3.4 billion on prescription drugs because of the healthcare law.