2017 Essential Community Provider List Petition Process

The Affordable Care Act requires issuers of Qualified Health Plans to include Essential Community Providers in their networks. ECPs care for predominantly low-income patients in medically underserved areas.

To ensure timely access to care for low-income patients, the US Department of Health and Human Services has established standards for the number and geographic distribution of ECPs in a plan’s network. HHS has a non-exhaustive list of ECPs, but it is collecting and updating data on ECPs to make its list more accurate.

Qualified ECPs can complete HHS' petition to be added to the list for 2017 or to update their existing information here. Petitions must be completed by January 8, 2016. All RHCs interested in being included in the final 2017 ECP list must complete the petition, even if they are on the current draft list.

If you have questions, CMS has published a list of FAQs as well as instructions on the petition process.