'Local Connections' Helping Low-Income Adults Find Affordable Care
<p>As locally crafted responses to health system failures, community health initiatives have been steadfast in their efforts to connect uninsured and low-income Americans to coverage and care by assisting with outreach, coordinating health services, and helping clients use limited resources efficiently.</p><p>A new Commonwealth Fund report, <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=29517&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecommonwealthfund%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D515749%26%23doc515749">Lessons from Local Access Initiatives: Contributions and Challenges,</a> presents case studies of five notable programs targeting low-income adults under age 65. Some, like Community Health Works in Forsyth, Ga., offer coverage for a limited period of time, often for individuals who seek care after contracting an illness. Others, like Choice Regional Health Network, in Olympia, Wash., manage care for clients with complex needs, chaperoning them through systems they characteristically have trouble navigating.</p><p>The authors, who include Karen Minyard, Ph.D., of the Georgia Health Policy Center, Deborah Chollet, Ph.D., of Mathematica Policy Research, and their colleagues, discuss the keys to these programs' success, while also pointing to the challenges encountered as they struggle to fill gaps in the health care safety net.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2007/aug/local-connections-helping-low-income-adults-find-affordable-care