Cities Help Uninsured Residents Find Preventive Health Care

Cities Help Uninsured Residents Find Preventive Health Care in Individual Health Insurance

The Sioux Falls Health Department in South Dakota is cooking up a pilot program to help residents without health insurance get access to preventive care.

They're modeling their program after a similar effort in Toledo, Ohio where a city health care organization directs uninsured residents to facilities where they can receive free or low-cost preventive care.

Even though the program is still in the very beginning stages, city officials are hopeful it will have a big impact on those who are uninsured.

"This [program] would set up a process by which folks can learn of the different resources available to them," said Director of the Sioux Falls Health Department, Judy Buseman.

There's no funding to launch the program yet, reported the Argus Leader. But health care providers Avera Health and Sanford Health, along with the Community Healthcare Association of South Dakota are already working with Sioux Falls officials to plan out the details.

So why focus on providing preventive care? To reduce overall health care costs.

For many who are uninsured, preventive health care services are simply too expensive. They try to hold off on routine care until they have to go to the emergency room once their condition becomes serious.

By federal law, emergency care must be provided for every citizen regardless of ability to pay.

Then hospitals are forced to offset the cost of providing care for the uninsured by raising prices for those with health insurance.

The effect finally ends with higher health care costs and higher health insurance rates.

It's a cycle we'd all like to break. Hopefully, efforts like those in Sioux Falls and Toledo have a positive impact.

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