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For Immediate
Release
4/9/08
Contact:
Tom Golden
717-787-1350
Committee Exploring Health Centers and Care for
Low-Income and Uninsured Pennsylvanians
Working to expand access to existing services before launching expensive, new
programs.
Harrisburg – As part of the ongoing effort to make quality health care more
accessible in Pennsylvania, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee,
chaired by Sen. Ted Erickson (R-Delaware), is examining the role that health
centers play in providing care for low-income and uninsured Pennsylvanians.
The committee held a public hearing at the Capitol on Wednesday and will hold
a second hearing Tuesday in Upland, Delaware County.
The important role that these clinics play in communities across the state is
often underestimated, and the committee is exploring how their role in providing
care to the uninsured can be expanded.
"Before we here at the state level begin to add expensive new programs, we
really should examine what we already have in place," said Erickson. "Health
care centers are especially important in rural and urban areas and I'm looking
forward to coming up with ideas to increase the support and reach of these
valuable community assets."
Through public and private support, Community Health Centers in Pennsylvania
provide medical care to more than 600,000 residents at 190 sites each year,
according to testimony from PA Association of Community Health Care Centers
Interim Executive Director Cindi Christ. All patients are provided care
regardless of ability to pay or insurance status, and one in six are uninsured.
Patients pay a sliding fee based on income and family size.
Services vary by site, but may include internal medicine, pediatrics, OB-GYN,
laboratory, X-ray, pharmacy, and emergency and urgent medical care. Seventy-five
percent of the sites offer dental care.
Uninsured Pennsylvanians also receive health care at Pennsylvania's 30 free
clinics, 33 Nurse-Managed Health Centers and similar facilities. Lancaster
General Hospital's Jo Ann Lawer testified that the hospital's Family Health
Clinics and South East Lancaster Health Services provided care to a combined
35,857 people through more than 147,000 patient visits.
The committee also heard from Dr. Zane Gates, who runs a free health clinic
in Altoona and approached Senator Erickson with the idea that the expansion of
free clinics would benefit uninsured Pennsylvanians needing medical care.
The committee will hold a second hearing on this topic on Tuesday, April 15,
10 a.m., at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Delaware County.
Additional Information:
Healthcare
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