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Program / Health Centers
HRSA Health Center Program
The Section 330 program that funds community-based health centers to deliver primary care to underserved people regardless of ability to pay. VerisGov maps the structure and keeps the funding landscape current.
Coverage Healthcare and Medicaid
At a glance
- Program
- Health Center Program, federal support for community-based primary care serving medically underserved areas and populations.
- Administering agency
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care, within HHS.
- Statutory authority
- Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, including subsections for community health centers, agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents.
- Funding mechanism
- Federal grant awards to qualifying health centers, historically supported by both discretionary and mandatory funding streams. This is a grant program, not matched federal-state spending.
- Money flow
- Federal awards go directly to public or nonprofit health center grantees, which combine them with patient and third-party revenue, including Medicaid reimbursement.
- Who has a stake
- Community health centers and their patient-majority boards, medically underserved communities, public and nonprofit applicants, primary care and dental providers, and state primary care associations.
What it is
The HRSA Health Center Program funds community-based organizations to provide comprehensive primary care to medically underserved people regardless of their ability to pay. It is authorized under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act and administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration through its Bureau of Primary Health Care. Organizations funded under the program are known as Federally Qualified Health Centers.
The program supports several health center types tied to specific populations: community health centers, programs for migratory and seasonal agricultural workers, health care for people experiencing homelessness, and primary care for public housing residents. To receive funding, an organization must be public or nonprofit, serve a medically underserved area or population, and meet program requirements including a patient-majority governing board and a sliding fee discount program.
Unlike Medicaid programs, the Health Center Program is a federal grant program rather than matched federal-state spending. Section 330 awards are made directly to qualifying health centers and have historically been supported by both discretionary and mandatory federal funding streams. Health centers combine these awards with patient revenue, including Medicaid reimbursement, to sustain operations.
Key facts
- Program Health Center Program, federal support for community-based primary care serving medically underserved areas and populations.
- Administering agency Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care, within HHS.
- Statutory authority Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, including subsections for community health centers, agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents.
- Funding mechanism Federal grant awards to qualifying health centers, historically supported by both discretionary and mandatory funding streams. This is a grant program, not matched federal-state spending.
- Money flow Federal awards go directly to public or nonprofit health center grantees, which combine them with patient and third-party revenue, including Medicaid reimbursement.
- Who has a stake Community health centers and their patient-majority boards, medically underserved communities, public and nonprofit applicants, primary care and dental providers, and state primary care associations.
What it funds
- Comprehensive primary medical care provided regardless of ability to pay
- Sliding fee discount programs so no patient is denied care for inability to pay
- Services for special populations: agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents
- Enabling services that support access to care for underserved patients
- Operation and staffing of health centers in medically underserved areas
Always current
What VerisGov keeps current
The facts above hold for years. These move, and they are where most of the work is. The engine tracks each one against its government source, so what you see is the live state, not a snapshot that quietly went out of date.
- Current federal funding levels and the status of mandatory versus discretionary funding streams
- Open funding opportunities and award cycles for new and continuing grantees
- Current program requirements, compliance manual updates, and scope-of-project rules
- Designation of medically underserved areas and populations and how they affect eligibility
- Number and distribution of funded health centers and look-alike designations
How VerisGov covers it
The same engine runs on this program that runs on every domain: find the primary sources, verify and source-pin each fact, and productize it into something your team can use.
VERIFY
Verify and source-pin each fact
Every figure, rule, and deadline is checked against its government source and pinned to it, so a claim on the page traces back to the document it came from. When a detail is uncertain, it stays qualitative.
PRODUCTIZE
Productize it for your team
The verified corpus becomes a navigator, dashboard, report, dataset, or custom build, shaped to how your team works and refreshed as the program moves.
Pinned to records published by
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- Bureau of Primary Health Care
Answers
Frequently asked questions
What is a Federally Qualified Health Center?
A Federally Qualified Health Center is an organization funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to provide comprehensive primary care to underserved people regardless of ability to pay. It must be public or nonprofit, serve a medically underserved area or population, and meet program requirements such as a patient-majority governing board and a sliding fee discount program.
Who is eligible to receive Health Center Program funding?
Public and private nonprofit organizations may apply. Applicants generally must serve a medically underserved area or population, though programs for agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents serve populations treated as underserved by definition. Funded centers must meet governance, service, and sliding-fee requirements.
Is the Health Center Program the same as Medicaid funding?
No. The Health Center Program is a federal grant program under Section 330, with awards going directly to health centers. That is different from Medicaid, which is matched federal-state spending. Health centers do bill Medicaid for services, so the two interact, but Section 330 funding itself is a grant.
How does VerisGov help with the HRSA Health Center Program?
VerisGov maps the durable structure of the program, the Section 330 basis, the HRSA and Bureau of Primary Health Care roles, the health center types, and the eligibility and governance requirements, and keeps the volatile details current: funding levels, open funding opportunities, compliance updates, and underserved-area designations. Every fact is pinned to its source.
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