Peninsula clinics reaching out to help patients enroll in health insurance [Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)]

July 13--The Peninsula Institute for Community Health, known as PICH, is the beneficiary of a $219,864 grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant is part of the department's $150 million nationwide handout to help enroll uninsured patients in health insurance coverage newly available through the Affordable Care Act.

"Investing in health centers means that people have one more resource to help them understand their insurance options," said Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services.

PICH consists of eight subsidized health clinics in locations from Virginia Beach to Mathews County.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act provided for the expansion of Medicaid coverage to people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In Virginia this would add about 400,000 people to coverage under the federal-state program. However, the 2012 Supreme Court ruling on the ACA determined that its expansion was not mandated and Virginia has not yet approved it, though Gov. Bob McDonnell has appointed a 10-person commission to work on the project.

The establishment of state health insurance exchanges by Jan. 1, 2014, with enrollment opening in October 2013, is another element of the ACA intended to expand insurance coverage. These are intended to cover individuals whose income level makes them ineligible for Medicaid, and who don't receive insurance through their employers. Virginia has ceded operation of its exchange to the federal government though the state received approval in March to perform plan management activities.

Angela Futrell, CEO of PICH, is undeterred by the uncertainties regarding Medicaid expansion and the state exchanges. She is using the federal grant money to hire eight outreach workers, one for each of PICH's locations. They will undergo training and certification in early August and be ready to start their outreach work in mid-August, she said.

The new outreach workers will be tasked with educating clinic patients about their options. "People will be eligible for some form of health-care coverage -- they may be eligible for Medicaid, or a child might be eligible for the (Family Access to Medical Insurance Security) program. They'll see where the person falls," said Futrell. She sees the outreach as a way to let the uninsured know that they do have options and that they will be eligible for some form of health care coverage.

In all, 24 health centers with 143 sites in Virginia served 283,906 patients last year; of those, more than 39 percent were uninsured. Through 22 Virginia grants, the Department of Health and Human Services anticipates the hiring of 51 workers, who are expected to assist 29,313 people with enrollment in health insurance coverage. PICH clinics were the only ones on the Peninsula to receive a grant, and they received almost double the money of any other in Virginia.

PICH

PICH provides primary care and dental services to the insured, uninsured and underinsured. It has clinics at the following locations: 48th St. Physicians, 4714 Marshall Ave., Newport News; 380-8709; Stoneybrook Physicians, 15425-H Warwick Blvd., Newport News, 874-8400; East End Physicians, 1033 28th St., Newport News, 952-2160; Main Street Physicians, 157 N. Main St., Suffolk, 925-1866; Town Center Physicians, 10980 Buckley Hall Road, Bldg. 5, Mathews, 804-725-9191; Virginia Beach Family Medical Center, 940 General Booth Blvd., 425-3610; Victoria Boulevard Physicians, 3130 Victoria Blvd., Hampton, 952-0180; Chesapeake Community Health Center, 490 Liberty St., Chesapeake, 228-1228.

For information, or to apply for an outreach worker position, go to http://www.pich.org.

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