Boston Awards $3.3 Million to Community Health Centers as Medicaid Coverage Changes Loom
BOSTON — The City of Boston and Boston Public Health Commission are providing $3.3 million to 10 community health centers across the city as providers prepare for increased demand and financial pressure tied to changes in federal Medicaid requirements.
The funding comes as MassHealth projects that new federal work and education requirements could put approximately 40,000 Boston residents at risk of losing Medicaid coverage beginning in January 2027. About 40% of those residents live in Dorchester and Roxbury, with another 20% residing in Hyde Park, the South End and Mattapan.
Because community health centers provide care regardless of a patient’s income or insurance status, city officials say the anticipated loss of coverage could leave health centers serving more patients while receiving less reimbursement for their services.
Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Health Commission Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu announced the funding as part of the city’s Live Long and Well population health equity agenda, which focuses on addressing health inequities and narrowing disparities in life expectancy among Boston neighborhoods.
“With many of our residents’ access to healthcare under attack by the Federal Administration, Boston must rally behind our community health centers, now more than ever,” Wu said. “Our community health centers are trusted providers who deliver high-quality care to all residents, regardless of who they are or how much they make. Investing in our health centers is an investment in access for everyone in Boston to live a long and healthy life.”
The city’s health equity initiative focuses in part on the leading causes of premature death in Boston, including cardiometabolic diseases, cancer and unintentional drug overdoses. Those conditions disproportionately affect communities of color, while Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan experience some of the city’s greatest health disparities.
The new funding will help health centers maintain staffing, strengthen operations, increase access to health insurance coverage and expand interventions aimed at preventing and managing conditions that can contribute to premature death.
“As a city, we are committed to closing the 23-year life expectancy gap that exists between neighborhoods, and we need our community health centers to accomplish this goal,” Ojikutu said. “Community health centers are the front door to care, and they are being asked to hold that door open as federal cuts strip coverage from around 40,000 of our residents.”
“An increase in uninsured patients does not mean a decrease in the number of patients needing care,” she added. “It means more people arriving sicker, later, with conditions we could have managed years earlier. Funding like this will help keep the doors of community health centers open.”
$3.3 Million Distributed to 10 Health Centers
The $3.3 million comes from the final year of Boston Public Health Commission’s American Rescue Plan Act funding. Ten community health centers will each receive $300,000, while an additional $300,000 will go to the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to support long-term financial stability among the participating providers.
The 10 health centers receiving funding are:
- Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
- Charles River Community Health
- Codman Square Health Center
- The Dimock Center
- DotHouse Health
- Harbor Health Services
- Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center
- Mattapan Community Health Center
- NeighborHealth
- Whittier Street Health Center
The investment comes as many community health centers continue to recover from revenue losses and staffing shortages associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michael Curry, president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said community health centers have played major roles in Boston’s response to some of its most significant recent public health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of Carney Hospital.
“As a trusted health care provider for one in two Boston residents, community health centers have played major roles in Boston’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, closure of Carney Hospital, and our most persistent public health challenges,” Curry said. “With so many of our most vulnerable residents set to lose Medicaid coverage in 2027, it is critical that our health centers have the resources necessary to meet even greater health care needs.”
Curry said the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is grateful to the city and BPHC for recognizing the role community health centers play in maintaining access to care.
Health Centers Prepare for Greater Demand
The funding will allow individual health centers to expand programs tailored to the needs of the communities they serve.
At DotHouse Health, the funding will support a team-based approach to cardiometabolic health involving clinicians, community resource specialists and staff who help patients enroll in and maintain insurance coverage.
“At DotHouse Health, we see every day how deeply health inequities shape the outcomes of patients living with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and other cardiometabolic conditions,” said Dr. Monica Vohra, chief medical officer at DotHouse Health.
Vohra said disparities could widen as patients face uncertainty about their health insurance coverage. The funding will allow DotHouse Health to strengthen both medical care and assistance with maintaining coverage.
At Charles River Community Health, the funding will support more intensive outreach to patients with poorly controlled diabetes who may see their primary care physician only once or twice a year.
“Health center patients deserve the same support as all patients in managing chronic conditions like diabetes,” said Dr. Klavdia Brisson, chief clinical officer at Charles River Community Health.
Brisson said the funding will help the organization engage more intensively with patients whose elevated A1c levels put them at increased risk of serious complications.
Whittier Street Health Center plans to use its funding to expand its Mobile Health Program, bringing services directly into neighborhoods and strengthening partnerships with community organizations.
“This supplemental funding allows Whittier Street Health Center to expand our Mobile Health Program at a critical moment for the communities we serve,” said Frederica M. Willams, president and CEO of Whittier Street Health Center.
Willams said the program will help connect more residents with screenings and preventive care while reducing barriers that can keep patients from accessing the care they need.
Part of Broader City Support
The $3.3 million allocation is a one-time funding commitment, but it is not the first time the Boston Public Health Commission has provided financial assistance to community health centers.
In May 2023, BPHC awarded $1.4 million in ARPA funding to seven organizations that experienced revenue losses and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. BPHC also provides annual support to Boston community health centers through the city’s annual appropriation and other grant programs.
The latest investment is part of the city’s broader Live Long and Well strategy, which seeks to address the conditions contributing to disparities in health and life expectancy across Boston neighborhoods.
For community health centers, the funding arrives as they prepare for a potentially significant change in the number of insured and uninsured patients seeking care.
City officials say the goal is to ensure that health centers remain equipped to provide preventive and primary care, help residents maintain access to coverage and address health conditions before they become more serious.
The investment also comes ahead of the implementation of new federal Medicaid requirements. MassHealth projects that approximately 40,000 Boston residents could be affected by new work and education requirements beginning in January 2027, increasing pressure on the health centers that serve many of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
