Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) such as PCDC play a critical role in financing the expansion of primary care. This includes making capital investments using New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to meet the needs of patients who lack access to quality health services. Both FQHCs and CDFIs rely heavily on federal appropriations and both received significant federal support for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16).
Community health centers secured $5.1 billion for FY16: $3.6 billion from the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) enacted last April, and $1.5 billion in the Federal Omnibus Appropriations Act (“Omnibus”) enacted last December (including $150 million for capital improvements and $200 million for health center capacity expansion). The Omnibus also extends the NMTC program at $3.5 billion annually through 2019, allocates $233.5 million to the CDFI Fund for FY16 (a $3 million increase over FY15) and extends the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program for one year at $750 million.