Hawaii, USA – A Hawaiian health facility gets a $250,000 funding from Affordable Care Act for its behavioral health services.
Affordable Care Act
The United States Health and Human Services (HHS) department granted the West Hawaii Community Health Center Inc. a $250,000 funding for its behavioral health services. The funding was in relation to the Affordable Care Act, providing patients in community health facilities with an affordable access to health care services. Sylvia Burwell, the HSS secretary said that a total of one million dollars will be awarded to four different health care facilities within Hawaii. Basically, the funding will be used to establish or expand the behavioral health needs of residents. A total of 3,421 residents will be given a chance to access urgent care clinics andhealth servicesthrough the available funds.
National Perspective
Initially, the HSS department funded the Affordable Care Act with a total of $54.6 million. The plan was to fund 221 health centers nationwide. Including Puerto Rico, another 47 states were included in the behavioral health care funding, affecting more than 450,000 population. Every urgent care clinic and health center will use the funds for wide ranges of efforts. Mental health professionals such as doctors, assistants, medical aids, and other health experts will be hired for additional staff. The funds will also be used to enhance mental health services, including the needs of those suffering from substance use disorders, considering the urgent care they need. Additionally, primary health care models will be incorporated and employed through the funds.
Access to Quality Health Care
The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of its health care benefits reached more than 60 million Americans across the nation, which included nearly 230,000 residents of Hawaii. The recent funding announcement will allow those with expanded health coverage more opportunities in accessing quality health care. Mary Wakefield, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration said that health centers, can now meet the patients’ mental health needs. With the available funds, behavioral health services will be accessible from health communities within Hawaii.
The Need for Behavioral Health Services
The need for a high quality behavioral health care has increased over time. This is because the figure of patients with mental health disorders has increased equally. People with mental or behavioral issues need a sort of an urgent care near me facility, making community health care facilities the most accessible place and access necessary services. Thus, the national data showing 1.2 million people with behavioral disorders certainly need high quality behavioral health services nationwide.
