A leaner federal budget might seem like the prescription of the day for the nation’s fiscal prob­lems, but the solution is not so simple.

For example, cutting health care programs such as Commu­nity Health Centers, which ac­tually reduce overall costs in the health care system and keep people healthier — might actu­ally increase the costs borne by all taxpayers.

In my experience as a Com­munity Health Center Executive Director in Cassopolis, I see what happens when people put off going to a doctor for check­ups, prenatal care, or help in managing chronic health con­ditions such as high blood pres­sure or diabetes because they are uninsured.

Often they get sicker and end up in the hospital emergency room due to heart attacks, strokes, premature births, etc.

When this occurs, who pays the bill? We all do in higher health care costs across the en­tire health system.

Community Health Centers offer a better approach for fam­ilies who are getting priced out of the health care market during these tough economic times.

Chances are your neighbor, or even a member of your own family, is one of the 23 million people who count on health centers as their family doctor.

But if Congress cuts funding to health centers and makes harmful changes to the Medic­aid program, it will become much harder for everyday Americans to get in the door to see a doctor.

Already, 60 million people across America do not have reg­ular access to health care be­cause they are uninsured or can’t afford an increasingly higher share of their employer’s costs for coverage, or they sim­ply live in an area that lacks af­fordable primary care services.

While health centers were on track to address these needs over the next five years, they now face the prospect of dimin­ished federal support as a result of the tight fiscal climate, leav­ing little for expansion into communities in need, and even less hope for the 800 communi­ties that submitted applications to start a health center.

Worse yet, slashing Medicaid would further increase the fi­nancial pressures on health centers as they stretch their budgets to care for more pa­tients.

Already 37 percent of health center patients are on Medic­aid, and 40 percent have no in­surance at all. Direct federal funding and Medicaid together form a delicate financial bal­ancing act which has allowed the nation’s Community Health Centers to stay afloat and serve communities and people in need. Yes, we must address the growing national debt as a na­tion, but at the same time we should be even more thoughtful about investing our limited re­sources where it will do the most good. We should not turn away from proven local solu­tions like health centers, which have improved health for mil­lions of people and significantly reduced health care costs. Isn’t that the goal in the first place?

Mary Geegan Middleton

Dowagiac