Need statement
Low-income uninsured patients
“I couldn’t move without being in pain. I’ve never really had anything go wrong with my health and didn’t know where to go to get help.”
—Male Project Access patient
According to September 2008 reports, Oregon’s uninsured population jumped to 17.3 percent – more than 620,000 people – during 2006 and 2007, up from 15.9 percent the previous two years. The state’s uninsured rate is higher than the national average of 15.3 percent of Americans without health insurance.
The proportion of Oregonians living in poverty dropped from 13.3 percent in 2006 to 12.9 percent in 2007.
Providing access to health care for low-income uninsured individuals is a greatly needed service throughout the Portland metropolitan area region. Currently, low-income uninsured people have access to health care through a variety of mechanisms: Oregon Health Plan, federally qualified health centers, community-based safety net clinics, and hospital emergency rooms, which is the least effective and efficient method. The low-income uninsured in Washington have access to health care through the Washington Basic Health program. The capacity of the health care safety net in the Portland metropolitan region is not sufficient to meet the need.
Physicians and health care providers
“Project Access makes it easier for doctors to do the right thing. It helps doctors do what they do best.”
—John Nusser, MD, Family Medicine of Southwest Washington
Before Project Access, organized volunteer opportunities allowed physicians in private practice to provide charity care at a clinic that is not their normal place of business. Sometimes the volunteer environment was less than ideal for physicians and other health care practitioners, and frequently there was no access to the full range of ancillary services needed to provide all necessary services.
Before Project Access launched, each county in the Portland metropolitan area had different issues in terms of distribution of health care. No county continues to have adequate resources.
- Local efforts in Clackamas County are still under development and the program anticipates connecting patients to care in September 2009. The administrative home in Clackamas county will be Willamette Falls Hospital Foundation.
- Clark County has good access to health care for children, yet the number of adults without health insurance is rising and stressing the already limited health care safety net especially in the area of specialty referrals.
- Multnomah County has several clinics where low-income, uninsured patients can get access to regular primary care, yet the capacity of these clinics is inadequate. Additionally, there is a huge need for specialty referrals from the already existing clinics.
- Washington County has very few clinics where low-income, uninsured people can access regular primary care. In addition, those already existing clinics are struggling to find affordable referrals for patients that need specialty care.
The challenges faced by health care in this country will not be fully answered by Project Access. Project Access is an interim step that will provide needed services, create very little additional, and no duplicative, infrastructure, and will foster relationships that will ultimately be crucial in order to implement any significant health care reform.
