Focusing on the effects of community health centers (CHCs) funded between 1965 and 1974, Martha Bailey found that they not only reduced mortality while decreasing care costs among Americans age 50 and older, but they significantly reduced the income gap in mortality. The study also found a large impact for older patients already insured via Medicare. Of these reductions in mortality, Bailey says: “We expect the actual benefits of increasing access to medical services are even greater because mortality alone doesn’t touch on changes in illness, disability and other gains in health and well-being.”

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