Just weeks into the 119th Congress, U.S. Representatives Troy Balderson (R-OH), Danny Davis (D-IL), Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Rose DeLauro (D-CT) announced the relaunch of the bipartisan Community Health Center (CHC) Caucus. The Caucus aims to shape policies that strengthen and support CHCs and build thriving communities.
Serving 32.5 million people across rural and urban communities, CHCs have a proven track record of reducing overall healthcare costs, decreasing the impact of chronic diseases, and eliminating costly hospitalizations and unnecessary emergency room visits.
“The Community Health Center Caucus recognizes that CHCs provide local solutions to America’s health problems,” said NACHC President and CEO Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP. “For 60 years, CHCs have built trust by providing effective, affordable, and comprehensive primary and preventive care that saves lives and money.”
CHCs comprise the largest primary care system in the nation. Costing only 1% of US healthcare spending (approximately $55B in 2025), CHCs deliver care for 10% or 1 in 10 Americans, and 1 in 5 in rural America, rely on CHCs for cost-effective, high-quality, comprehensive primary care integrated with oral health, behavioral health, and other essential health services. By law and mission, CHCs turn no one away, regardless of insurance status and have a sliding fee scale to ensure care is available at a price patients can afford.
In many rural and other hard-to-reach frontier and mountain areas, CHCs are the only primary care providers left, and sometimes the only healthcare access point for hundreds of miles. CHCs are also an economic engine in local communities, responsible for more than 310,000 jobs nationwide and generating nearly $119 billion in economic activity.
A “Dear Colleague” letter circulating in the House of Representatives invites lawmakers to join the Caucus and highlights CHCs’ essential role in saving lives and delivering cost-savings to taxpayers:
“Health centers’ unique model of comprehensive primary care saves taxpayer dollars by improving health outcomes and better managing chronic conditions. Last year, the Congressional Budget Office found that increased funding for health centers will save public insurance programs billions of dollars due to fewer emergency department visits and reduced utilization of expensive outpatient services.”
CHC leaders and advocates across the U.S. are urging their Representatives in Congress to join the Community Health Center Caucus and support this unique and innovative model of primary care that has been transforming communities since 1965.