News & Announcements
Deb Merion: Everyone's hands hold safety net for Washtenaw County's
health care
The Ann Arbor Business Review –Thursday, Dec 18, 2008
By Deb Merion
U-M economists predict over 100,000 job losses in Michigan next year.
To stay afloat, some businesses will tell their employees that they
will keep their jobs but will lose their health insurance benefits.
Wallets without health insurance cards are usually low on cash too,
so where can uninsured or underinsured folks go for health care?
"One simple answer is to call Packard, because we provide healthcare
on a sliding scale, and there are other options, but unfortunately Packard
doesn't have the capacity for everyone losing healthcare benefits," said
Kimberly Kratz, Executive Director of Packard Community Clinic.
Clinics like Packard Community Clinic are only part of the area's already
strained healthcare safety net. Kratz also points to the University
of Michigan nurse-run health centers, and Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti
for teenagers. In addition, emergency rooms are required by law to help
everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
Local hospitals write off millions of dollars of care to uninsured
low income individuals who quality for the Washtenaw Health Plan. "We
see ourselves as a provider of last resort, for those who have no access
to Medicaid or Medicare or insurance through their employer," said Ellen
Rabinowitz, Executive Director of the Washtenaw Health Plan.
To qualify, Washtenaw County residents must have a gross household
income less than 200% of the federal poverty level (not more than $20,800
per year for individuals or $35,200 for a family of three). The program
is collaborative: it has a $7.5 million annual budget from local, state
and federal sources, with additional millions in uncompensated care
from the University of Michigan Health System and the St. Joseph Mercy
Health System.
Residents who apply but don't qualify for the county program because
of their income or savings level receive a pamphlet listing additional
free and low-cost health care options (see
the county's Web page on low-cost health care here).
Although Michigan's 10 percent uninsured rate is lower than the national
average (16 percent) and half that of Texas, New Mexico and Florida,
local administrators are still concerned.
"Last year, enrollment in the Washtenaw Health Plan increased by 40%," said
Rabinowitz. "This is a problem impacting many working people." The majority
(53 percent) of the uninsured are individuals living in households with
a full-time worker, according to a June 2008 report from the Michigan
Department of Community Health.
"There aren't the resources at this point to meet the increasing demand,
and there is a planning group that includes the safety net providers
to figure out how to meet that demand," said Rabinowitz.
Two other options for individuals to save healthcare dollars include
attending drugstore clinics such as CVS MinuteClinics, and negotiating
with hospital billing departments when unable to pay out of pocket for
healthcare services.
Kratz says insured individuals can also hold up one end of the healthcare
safety net by going to the Packard Community Clinic. Fifty percent of
Packard's patients are insured, and help keep the clinic financially
solvent and functioning in a high quality environment for all. "Our
electronic medical records system is state of the art, and our doctors
score above average on quality ratings by insurance companies and HMOs," said
Kratz.
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