Sunrise Community Health reaching out to uninsured, recently-qualified Medicaid patients
By Casey Kelly, Greeley Tribune, Colo. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The organization has been strategically planning for healthcare reform, knowing it would impact the patients it serves in its eight clinics in
"The timing right now is important because as there is an expansion of insured people, we need to make sure people know what community health centers are," Moran said.
Last year in
"To talk about the need, if you look at just the city of
While many patients previously made too much money to qualify for
Sunrise, like other community health clinics in the state, serves patients regardless of their ability to pay, and screens their patients to see if they are eligible for federal assistance. Sunrise receives about 10 to 12 percent of its funding from a federal grant given to offset the cost incurred by offering sliding scale fee discounts for patients. The rest of the organization's funding comes from billing private or public insurance providers.
Moran said the organization has been able to expand thanks to its partnerships with other health organizations in the community. Sunrise has partnered with organizations like
"The idea being that if all of our capital projects can be funded 100 percent philanthropically, then we don't service debt and all our operational dollars go toward the patients, the doctors, the staff and the costs to run the business," Moran said.
Moran said patients that have access to a payer source like federal or private insurance are more likely to access care quickly, and not wait until a health-related issue is so bad it needs emergency treatment, which she said is far more expensive for an uninsured patient.
"It's much better to come here for your ear infection than it is to go to the emergency room. They will take care of it, but it's really expensive," Moran said. "We thought it would be much better if they accessed it here. Because if they are healthy, they can work. If kids are healthy and have access to care, they perform better in school. Healthy workforce, healthy schools -- that draws business and helps you recruit professionals. It's like the health of the community, not just that individual."
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