How to setup and manage free clinics?

Issue: 

Preliminary data from the National Health Interview Survey published by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in the first half of 2022, 27.4 million Americans—or 8.3% of the population—did not have health insurance. 

According to Kaiser Family Foundation, uncompensated care costs for the nation’s uninsured averaged $42.4 billion per year in the 2015-2017 time period.

Problem:

When you have insurance, it’s easy to forget that there are gaps in coverage. There are many gaps that exist in the healthcare system. One of them is the uninsured gap, which is when someone does not have health insurance and then gets sick or injured. This can happen for many reasons: 

• During/After divorce at least one spouse goes through transition in insurance.
• When people with HMO or limited coverage plans travel, they might be in out of network area.
• People have high deductible insurance and can’t afford to pay co-insurance cost. 
• During layoffs or transition between jobs a small gap of being uninsured.
• States without Medicaid expansion has limited coverage.
• Affordable healthcare (Marketplace Insurance) does not cover anyone living below 100% federal poverty level.
• Employers with less then 10 employees are not required to provide health insurance coverage to employees.

Solution:

Community based free clinics can bridge the gap between the uninsured and healthcare providers by utilizing volunteers and strategic partnerships with other healthcare providers. The key is to setup a community based free clinic in a way that is not cumbersome and its monthly operational cost sustainable and generated through its operation without becoming a burden on taxpayers. If you are interested in learning how to develop a self sustainable community based free clinic, then schedule a discovery workshop.