PUBLIC LAW 104-299—OCT. 11, 1996 110 STAT. 3629 unusual local conditions which are a barrier to access to or the availability of personal health services. "(c) PLANNING GRANTS. — " (1) IN GENERAL.— "(A) CENTERS. — The Secretary may make grants to public and nonprofit private entities for projects to plan and develop health centers which will serve medically underserved populations. A project for which a grant may be made under this subsection may include the cost of the acquisition and lease of buildings and equipment (including the costs of amortizing the principal of, and paying the interest on, loans) and shall include— "(i) an assessment of the need that the population proposed to be served by the health center for which the project is undertaken has for required primary health services gind additional health services; "(ii) the design of a health center program for such population based on such assessment; "(iii) efforts to secure, within the proposed catchment area of such center, financial and professional assistance and support for the project; "(iv) initiation and encouragement of continuing community involvement in the development and operation of the project; and "(v) proposed linkages between the center and other appropriate provider entities, such as health departments, local hospitals, and rural health clinics, to provide better coordinated, higher quality, and more cost-effective health care services. " (B) COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE DELIVERY NETWORKS AND PLANS.— The Secretary may make grants to health centers that receive assistance under this section to enable the centers to plan and develop a network or plan for the provision of health services, which may include the provision of health services on a prepaid basis or through another managed care arrangement, to some or to all of the individuals which the centers serve. Such a grant may only be made for such a center if— "(i) the center has received grants under subsection (e)(1)(A) for at least 2 consecutive years preceding the year of the grant under this subparagraph or has otherwise demonstrated, as required by the Secretary, that such center has been providing primary care services for at least the 2 consecutive years immediately preceding such year; and "(ii) the center provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that the provision of such services on a prepaid basis, or under another managed care arrangement, will not result in the diminution of the level or quality of health services provided to the medically underserved population served prior to the grant under this subparagraph. Any such grant may include the acquisition and lease of buildings and equipment which may include data and information systems (including the costs of amortizing the principal of, and paying the interest on, loans), and providing training and technical assistance related to the provi-
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