FQHCs provide much needed care to the most impoverished citizens in states

Tracing their roots to the civil rights movement and the 1960s’ War on Poverty, federally qualified health centers play an important role in the U.S. health care system. In the State of New Jersey, the major providers of comprehensive community-based primary health care are the 20 community health centers and their satellite sites, federally funded/qualified by Sections 330/329 of the United States Public Health Service. The FQHCs provide much needed care to the most impoverished citizens in the state. Although somewhat different in composition and in the nature of services offered, the FQHCs all target the health care needs of the medically underserved within their respective service areas.

Approximately 1,300,000 patient visits are made annually to New Jersey's FQHCs by almost 422,000 users.  Community health centers provide comprehensive preventive and primary care and other clinical services—for example, laboratory testing, radiology, pharmacy, dental care, behavioral health and even medical specialty care in some cases—and services that assist with access to care, such as language translation and transportation.

The FQHC designation was created in 1991 by the feds for community health centers that rely on a mix of federal and state funding. They have grown over time and are on schedule to increase their services next  year, as the state continues adding  more than 200,000 new Medicaid recipients.

Governor Christie has said that he shifted funding from family-planning clinics to the FQHCs., a move that has brought criticism from family-planning advocates, siting the centers provide high-quality care at an efficient price, and serve as an example of an effective use of government funding. FQHC funding has increased by $10 million, or 25 percent, under the Christie administration.

Martin Milita is a Senior Director with Duane Morris Government Strategies working out of Trenton, and Newark New Jersey and Washington, DC. Based on his appointment as New Jersey's Medicaid Fraud Control Director and his work since then Martin Milita now represents FQHCs, hospitals and health care and technology firms in the health care field.