Many, many Americans are facing this new year without health insurance — an estimated 4.8 million additional people. You might be one of them.
The main reason for this is the end of subsidies that reduced the monthly cost for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans. If your premiums went up too much, you might have decided to forego insurance altogether.
Of course, being uninsured comes with a whole new set of health care and cost dilemmas. You have to figure out if your existing doctors will still take you as a patient, and if so, how much you’ll be expected to pay.
But the good news is, there are hundreds of community health centers around the country that specialize in offering affordable care, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.
And there are dozens of those community health centers right here in Middle Tennessee.
WHAT TO KNOW
Neighborhood Health in Nashville is one of roughly 1,400 federal health centers that get funding to help patients without insurance.They’re called federally qualified health centers. Or if you like a little alphabet soup with your health care, you can call them by their acronym: FQHCs.
There are roughly 1,400 FQHCs operating in the U.S., with more than 16,000 individual locations. They generally offer primary care, pediatrics, prenatal, and pharmacies. Some have imaging, labs, dental care and mental health services as well.
WPLN’s Blake Farmer recently dug into FQHCs as part of HealthQ, a new collaboration with KFF Health News. Here’s what he found out:
- You’re charged on a sliding scale based on your income and number of people in your household.HealthQ talked to Eduardo Mendoza, whose girlfriend goes to Connectus Health in Nashville. He says she gets monthly blood draws that would normally cost up to $700 without insurance, but only cost her $30 at Connectus.
- These centers have fully accredited staff. Katina Beard, the CEO of Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center in Nashville, says some people are skeptical of getting care at a low-cost clinic and believe that service is “substandard in some way.” But the staff is all board-certified, she says: “I have to tell them that we are accredited just as your private physician office is.”
- FQHC funding isn’t in immediate jeopardy, but it is being strained. These facilities continue to receive some direct government funding, but a huge part of their income comes from patients who pay with Medicaid. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed last year, is expected to significantly reduce Medicaid enrollment. So FQHCs are bracing for a surge in patients who can’t pay.
- If you’ve never heard of these centers, you’re not alone. They rarely advertise, due to low marketing budgets. To find one in the area, look it up on HRSA.gov.
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MORE TO KNOW
- WeGo is increasing service on a number of bus lines starting this week. Ten routes — including the West End, Shelby, Murfreesboro Pike lines — will now run longer on Sundays, from 5:15 a.m. to 1:15 a.m. Other routes, like the Airport line, will now start service earlier on Sundays, too. Several routes will run more frequently on the weekends, including the Opry Mills, Hillsboro Pike, West End and Nolensville Pike lines. See the full list on WeGo’s website. According to WPLN’s Cynthia Abrams, these changes are all funded by the half-cent sales tax increase implemented last year.
- A Metro board will consider a proposal tonight to end racing at the Fairgrounds racetrack. Racetrack opponents are attempting to revise the city’s charter, which protects racing at the site. Metro’s Charter Revision Commission is considering the group’s petition to put a charter amendment on the November 2026 ballot. It would ask to change the site’s priorities to housing, instead of racing, and would be subject to voter approval. But LiUNA Local 386, a labor union that represents construction and service workers, recently came out in opposition to the proposal. It’s seeking guarantees for a racetrack renovation instead. [Nashville Banner]
- An on-the-run monkey in East Tennessee has been caught. A Cinnamon Capuchin monkey was seen on the loose in Morristown on Sunday morning. The animal went into a musical instrument store, where it damaged multiple instruments. Animal control was called and, initially, was unsuccessful in capturing the monkey. According to the town’s police department, the animal was caught at a different location later that evening. The monkey was allegedly stolen from a farm in Alabama and transported to Morristown, where it was sold. [WBIR]
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