|
The Health Care Access
Committee
In May 1983, a farmer
from Midway, Ky., Brereton C. Jones, chaired
a special statewide committee that was charged
with identifying issues and focusing on
solutions to the developing medically indigent
patient crisis in Kentucky. The committee
held 11 meetings and heard testimony from
26 groups and individuals who responded
to public invitations to appear at the open
meetings. The result was 26 recommendations
from which the Kentucky Health Care Access
Foundation, Inc. — now called Health
Kentucky — and its programs evolved.
The Growing Indigent
Health Care Crisis
By 1984, the indigents'
access to quality health care was recognized
as a growing national problem. At that time
in Kentucky, an estimated 700,000 people
— or about 19 percent of the state's
entire population — had no public or
private health insurance. Approximately
half of these people had incomes below the
federal poverty level.
It was reported that
some Kentucky citizens were actually being
refused access to medically necessary care
or elected not to seek care because of financial
reasons. It's significant that of those
who were uninsured, approximately half were
employed or were in families with an employed
parent.
The Foundation
The Kentucky Health
Care Access Foundation, Inc. was established
in 1984 as a private initiative, nonprofit
501 (c)(3), charitable and educational organization.
Its purpose is to:
- Assist in obtaining
access to high-quality health care for
uninsured Kentuckians with incomes at
or below the federal poverty level who
do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid
or have other resources.
- To collect, analyze
and publish appropriate studies and other
information specifically dealing with
health care access.
- To finance those
activities through private, tax-deductible
contributions and grants.
Since the organization's
inception, it has continuously received
strong support from the University of Kentucky
and the University of Louisville medical
centers and the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Cabinet for Health Services. While Health
Kentucky receives no public funding, the
Cabinet screens applicants for eligibility
into the Kentucky Physicians Care Program
through its Department of Social Insurance
offices, which are located in each of Kentucky's
120 counties. In addition, the Cabinet for
Health Services began managing the statewide
toll-free hot line in 1994, increasing the
number of phone lines open to eligible callers.
|
