§ 40:1183.2 — Legislative findings; purpose

Louisiana § 40:1183.2

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 40: Public Health and Safety

Text

§1183.2. Legislative findings; purpose
A. The legislature finds that:
(1) Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) provide most of the healthcare
services required by a substantial number of low-income residents living in the state and
therefore constitute an invaluable part of the healthcare delivery system of the state.
(2) Residents living in rural and medically underserved communities, which consist
of sixty-two of the sixty-four Louisiana parishes, have a poorer health status than residents
living in other communities in the state and lack access to adequate health care.
(3) FQHCs are in poor financial condition as a result of payment reductions in the
Medicare and Medicaid programs and as a result of the advent and penetration of managed
care in the state.
(4) FQHCs have a difficult time attracting and retaining physicians in their service
areas, thereby resulting in a continued shortage of primary health care in the state's medically
underserved communities.
(5) Absent intervention, continued reductions in the Medicare and Medicaid
programs, as well as changes in healthcare reimbursement methodologies and the continued
spread of managed care, may result in the closure of the state's FQHCs, thereby jeopardizing
the very existence of a vital link in the healthcare delivery system for residents residing in
medically underserved areas of the state.
(6) FQHCs constitute, in most cases, an important employer of residents from the
economically and health distressed areas they serve and thus create a vital economic
component of their local communities.
B. The legislature hereby declares an emergency finding that, absent the enactment
of the following provisions, the very existence of Louisiana's FQHCs are imperiled. The
legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this Part is to assure the continued viability
of FQHCs. To that end, the provisions of this Part shall be construed liberally and in favor
of the purposes of this Part.

Legislative History

Acts 1997, No. 1473, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1300.132 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S; Acts 2018, No. 206, §4.