Collins, Rosen Bipartisan Bill to Expand Health Care Services in Rural and Underserved Communities Passes Senate

Washington, D.C. –The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) bipartisan Maximizing Outcomes through Better Investments in Lifesaving Equipment for (MOBILE) Health Care Act, which would expand access to primary health care services in rural and underserved communities. The bill, which now must be voted on by the House, would provide community health centers with the flexibility to use federal funds through the New Access Points Grants program to establish new, mobile health care delivery sites.

“Community health centers in Maine and across the country play an indispensable role in ensuring that rural and underserved communities receive affordable and quality health care, particularly as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senator Collins. “The MOBILE Health Care Act would help community health centers further expand their reach to the most rural parts of our state by giving them greater flexibility and allowing them to bring clinics even closer to the patients they serve.”

“Too many of Nevada’s small and rural communities lack access to permanent health centers and reliable health care,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m glad to see that my bipartisan bill to provide these communities with greater resources to expand mobile health clinics has passed the Senate, and is now one step closer to becoming law.”

“On behalf of Community Health Centers and the 30 million patients they serve, I want to thank Senator Jacky Rosen and Senator Susan Collins for pushing this important bill to extend access to high-quality primary care to rural communities through an expansion of mobile clinics,” said Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, Interim President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “Nearly half of health centers are located in rural and frontier communities, but we know there is still unmet need. Additional mobile health clinics have the potential to leverage the reach of health centers and fully serve hard-to-reach across the country patients.”