Thinking of Healthcare Reform as a Movement

Health Policy Sep 30, 2026• By TOMMY BEVERIDGE Thought experiment. What if the United States had a vast network of primary care-oriented non-profit health clinics? Imagine if there were, say, 17,000 locations in the most needed corners of our country? What if these clinics had to see everyone, had to offer a sliding fee scale for their services, and be run by boards comprised of a patient majority? Just for fun, what if they also provided dental and behavioral health services, worked with local social programs, and helped coordinate with specialists and hospitals? Couldn’t that be a solid cornerstone for primary care-centric health reform? Stop dreaming, say the skeptics. Stick to reality. It is real. Sometimes called Federally Qualified Health Centers, America’s Community Health Center (CHC) program is the usual source of care for 34 million people, or around 9% of the country. That’s a lot of people, and yet they have a fairly low public profile outside healthcare circles. One reason is that most people who go to a CHC don’t know it’s a CHC. It’s just the local clinic. It’s just their doctor. It’s not another government program to complain about. If you have a problem, you talk t...