Two lawmakers, U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Bob Casey (D-PA), recently introduced legislation that could help expand the workforces at health centers across the nation.
Employees and board members of health centers are currently covered under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). Senate Bill 955, the Family Health Care Accessibility Act, would extend the FTCA to qualified volunteer healthcare providers.
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If providers want to help at a clinic now, they have to purchase their own liability insurance.
Community health clinics typically serve low-income, uninsured or underinsured individuals. They provide primary care, with some offering mental health, dental, obstetrics and other services. The clinics typically provide services free of charge or on a sliding scale.
Currently the Federal Tort Claims Act covers providers volunteering at clinics that don’t charge patients for services. Those that charge are not covered. There is also a patchwork of coverage for some volunteers – some states and counties provide liability for entities within their boundaries. They often only cover entities that don’t charge for services.
Nann Worel, president of the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, said she would like to see coverage for all clinics, even those that receive sliding-scale payments.
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“Free clinics have a model of a small core paid staff and huge volunteer force, and it is the volunteers that drive the engine here,” she said. “Anything that restricts coverage of volunteers is hurtful to us.”
Worel said there are a lot of retired physicians that want to give their time but don’t want to carry malpractice premiums to do so.
Amy Simmons, communications director for the National Association of Community Health Clinics, said these clinics are crucial to providing healthcare to underserved populations. Community health clinics provide services to about 88 million patients each year, many of whom have chronic health conditions and are uninsured. The clinics employ more than 150,000 people and almost half are located in rural areas, where providers are scarce.
“Having local providers there is extremely important to the wellbeing of the community as well as the health center,” she said.
Recruitment and retention is often difficult at health centers, so volunteers are a necessity. And expansion of health insurance under the Affordable Car Act will likely create even greater demand at these clinics, Simmons said.
There seems to be bipartisan support for what Simmons said is a “common sense approach” to the challenge. There would be no additional funding needed to pay for the bill – it would be paid for by existing funds in the Department of Health and Human Services.
The legislation passed the House during the 111th Congress by a vote of 417-1. Simmons said her organization is hopeful the bill will get through both houses of Congress this time around.
“I don’t think there is a problem with the legislation,” she said. “It has less to do with the legislation than the current climate in congress – the last time, it just didn’t move.”
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