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Agency projects deficit as it aids the uninsured
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008
Access to Care, a nonprofit program that helps uninsured adults with free medical care in Summit County, is running out of money.
And the program is turning to local governments for financial help.
Marsha Schofield, executive director of Access to Care, is asking Summit County and Akron each to provide $75,000. The nonprofit group has a projected an $85,000 budget gap this year.
''The worst-case scenario is we stop operating,'' Schofield said. ''That's the worst case. But we're not anticipating that. Through various avenues, people are going to come to the plate and help us.''
Access to Care was started in 2005 by the Healthy Connections Network, a group of local hospitals, medical providers and agencies working to address the problem of the uninsured in the
county. Since then, the program has matched about 2,000 uninsured adults with nearly 270 volunteer doctors and area hospitals.
The program targets about 22,000 lower-income adults, many of them with jobs. (Officials estimate that there are about 69,000 uninsured in the county.)
After participants pay a $25 annual fee, their care is provided free.
The program started with a three-year federal grant. But the federal government quit funding Access to Care and similar programs nationwide in 2006. As a result, the local program didn't get the third year of promised federal cash of about $346,000.
In addition to the federal money, the program relies on foundations and the hospitals for funding. The bulk of the nearly $500,000 annual budget involves personnel costs, since the program must have workers to enroll people, manage cases and recruit doctors, Schofield said.
''We run very lean and mean,'' she said.
County officials are mulling over the request, but are wary about spending any extra money. The county already is expected to use at least $9 million from reserves to close a ballooning budget gap this year.
''We're running millions of dollars in the red right now,'' county Councilman Pete Crossland said this week after listening to a presentation by Schofield.
Access to Care is seeking additional funding from foundations and once again some federal support, Schofield said. And the program is working on a long-term plan to remain in operation, she said.
''We don't want to panic people that we're not going to be here anymore,'' Schofield said. ''We operate every day on the premise that we're going to be here for a long time. We're not changing the way we do business. We are committed.''
For more details about Access to Care, call 330-315-0209 or go online to: http://www.healthysummit.org/summitaccess2care/Default.cfm.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
Access to Care, a nonprofit program that helps uninsured adults with free medical care in Summit County, is running out of money.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Tallmadge, OH
Posted 07:24 AM, 09/24/2008
If we had UHC, this wouldn't ever happen. Vote for Obama & the Democrats in 2008. We need CHANGE.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:00 AM, 09/24/2008
Obama-Biden '08 before it's too damn late.
Posted 03:23 PM, 09/24/2008
Please help, this is a wonderful program and we would not have medical care without it. Thank you, from a poor sick working family.
