Florida health centers receive $1.25 million in ACA funding

The federal government announced Thursday that five Florida health centers would receive nearly $1.25 million in funding under the Affordable Care Act to provide mental health and substance abuse services.

Three of the centers — the Camillus Health Concern, Community AIDS Resource and Jesse Trice Community Health Center — are located in Miami. Two others are in Manatee and Putnam counties. All received grants of about $250,000.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that about 18,850 Floridians would receive new or expanded care as a result of the grant.

Health centers are community nonprofit organizations that provide free and low-cost medical services to low-income patients, the uninsured and other vulnerable populations. The ACA provides $11 billion over five years in direct funding to health centers.

This round of funding provided $51.3 million in grants to 210 health centers around the country, according to HHS. A series of grants earlier in the year provided about $2 million to eight Florida health centers, including one in Hollywood and one in Miami Beach.

This story was produced in collaboration with Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Florida health centers receive $1.25 million in ACA funding."