Health Insurance and the Clinic

http://www.hola-arkansas.com/news/573/0/0/8th-annual-hola-arkansas-health-safety-fair-to-offer-free

Posted by Amanda on March 22

The Health and Safety Fair being offered on April 30 (two weeks from now) is taking place at College Station Clinic, located at 4206 Frazier Pike, College Station, AR (east of Little Rock, close to the airport).

Jefferson Comprehensive Care Systems, Inc., parent of College Station Medical Clinic, is an indispensable provider of medical care in central Arkansas for low-income and working class residents. Unlike many other options existing, it is both reasonable in price and accessible, two factors I want to explain that are especially important nowadays when so many people lack health insurance.

There are many free clinics in Little Rock, but they are not accessible. To attend, you must often qualify for it by having been homeless within the last six months. If you do qualify, or if homelessness is not a requirement, the free clinics are still so much in demand that there may be a month-long wait. This is no good when you are severely ill and require the strength of prescription medication as soon as possible. Jefferson Comprehensive Care accepts walk-ins, which enables people to get medicine on the same day, possibly preventing them from having to either miss work or go to work sick, thereby losing more money and being less able to purchase medical care.

Little Rock also has a lot of walk-in clinics, but they are very expensive (but better than going to the Emergency Room!) If you do not have insurance, you will pay out-of-pocket for the full cost of being seen, which can add up very quickly, even into the hundreds of dollars. Jefferson, on the other hand, uses a sliding-pay scale that keeps costs affordable. They do not have as many resources at hand as would another clinic, but they will have the majority of what is required for the typical visit. To make this possible they do receive federal funding, and I don't know how the new budget will affect them.

http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/hrsa/arkansas.html

The health and safety fair will provide minority families with a day of entirely free medical care, at the same time as providing the education which is meant to reduce the need for medical care and funding in the future. One of the reasons that minority groups are often more susceptible to illness than the general population is that they lack regular medical check-ups and prevention. This is exactly the type of clinic that would be putting on a fair in benefit of people with low-income, and I hope it does well!

(Their website is currently under construction)