This helping hand for the uninsured is empty
Daily Press
April 1, 2003
A helping hand to the uninsured
By Alison Freehling
RICHMOND -- You need a medical treatment to save your life, but you don't have health insurance and you don't qualify for public assistance. You don't have money to pay for care. You're stuck - and you're dying.
Those are the people that state health officials are trying to reach with the Uninsured Medical Catastrophe Fund, a little-known program that's now aiming to get more attention and financial support.
The fund, administered by the state Department of Medical Assistance Services or DMAS, can cover the cost of inpatient and outpatient care, laboratory tests, X-rays, medicine, some transplants and rehabilitation programs for uninsured patients who meet certain criteria. The program runs strictly on donations.
The program - the first of its kind in the nation - has gotten off to a slow start, and it remains unclear how many people it will be able to help. So far, just one patient has qualified for aid. The fund has about $100,000 in it, not a lot of money given the price of medical care.
The gradual start has had an advantage, (DMAS manager Debbie) Giffen said: It allowed the state to avoid a rush of applications before the program's framework - and some money - was in place. "My fear was that we would be overwhelmed with need," she said.
If Sen. George Allen has his way, the state fund soon will become a national model. Allen and Rep. Virgil Goode, both Virginia Republicans, recently introduced a bill in Congress that would create a similar federal program. "Working families who are not able to afford health insurance can quickly find themselves in a desperate situation," Allen said.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-76896sy0apr01.story
Comment: A state program of voluntary donations for the uninsured that has been a miserable failure should become a national model? Sen. Allen, get serious!