President Carter signing the<unk>  Services Act of 1977 A<unk>  <unk>  is a clinic located in a<unk> , medically under-served area in the United States that has a separate reimbursement structure from the standard medical office under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.<unk> s were established by the<unk>  Services Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-210), (Section 1905 of the Social Security Act). The<unk>  program increases access to health care in<unk>  areas by # creating special reimbursement mechanisms that allow clinicians to practice in<unk> , under-served areas # increasing utilization of physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP) As of 2018, there were approximately 4,300<unk> s across 44 states in the U.S.<unk> s facilitate 35.7 million visits per year and provide services for millions of people, including 8 million Medicare beneficiaries. As primary care facilities,<unk> s are essential to the health care safety net in<unk>  America. Unlike FQHCs,<unk> s are not legally mandated to provide care to patients who cannot pay but many of their patients are uninsured. Recent evidence shows that the presence of<unk> s enables greater appointment availability for Medicaid patients.
Rural health clinic
Sexual health clinic
Teaching clinic
Women's health nurse practitioner
Hospital volunteer
Public dispensary
Mental health professional
Biological pharmacist