House Majority Whip Clyburn Introduces Bill To Quadruple Number of Community Health Centers in U.S.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) last week introduced a bill that would provide $26 billion to quadruple the number of community health centers nationwide, McClatchy/Columbia State reports. The U.S. currently has 1,067 community health centers, which operate 6,700 clinics that provide medical, dental and mental health services to about 16 million low-income and uninsured residents.

Clyburn might seek to finance the bill, called the Access for All Americans Act, with a portion of a $634 billion health care reserve fund that President Obama announced last week as part of his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal. Clyburn said of the bill, "This is the next step to comprehensive and universal health care for all of our citizens."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced similar legislation in the Senate (Rosen, McClatchy/Columbia State, 2/27).