The annual benefit for the Medical Foundation of Marion & Polk Counties supports continuation and expansion of two valuable programs in the Mid- Willamette Valley of Oregon. The income from the benefit provides nearly 85% of the annual operating funds for both programs. These two programs are MedAssist and Project Access.
Project Access
Project Access opened its doors to the first patient in April of 2009. By the end of that year, after only nine months of operation, the program provided access to free medical care valued at over $3.5 million to more than 329 people. To date, 713 patients have received access to free care totaling more than $6.2 million. This care includes out-patient services in local doctor’s offices, in-patient care in our local hospitals, and surgeries. Project Access is a community based program that coordinates donated medical care and services provided by physicians, hospitals, medical labs, and ancillary healthcare providers in order to enhance and coordinate a continuum of care for uninsured, low-income residents. Often these residents are part of the working poor of the community. Their income is generally below 200% of the poverty line. They do not receive health insurance as part of their employment and do not make enough money to afford purchasing health insurance on their own. However, their income levels are substantial enough to exclude them from federal or state funded health programs. Therefore, these individuals go without health insurance and either attempt to ignore medical issues or wait until the symptoms cannot be ignored, in which case they tend to end up in an Emergency Room setting.
Many health care providers are willing to provide service and treatment for low or reduced cost to the uninsured. According to the American Medical Association, about two-thirds of doctors in the US provide charity care for an average of about 8.8 hours per week. However, most doctors avoid letting people know about this service due to their fear that they would be inundated with patients in need. Because this service is offered in stealth, it is often hard to find and even more difficult to manage. Most doctors do not even know how much free service they are providing at any given point in time. In Marion and Polk Counties prior to Project Access there was no systematic way of coordinating this charitable activity and efficiently linking needy recipients with willing healthcare donors.
MedAssist
MedAssist is a Prescription Assistance Program for eligible low-income people. This program is funded by the Medical Foundation of Marion & Polk Counties in an on-going effort to ensure the health of our communities. MedAssist currently has offices located in Salem, Stayton, Woodburn and Dallas that have been generously provided by Salem Hospital, Santiam Hospital, Silverton Hospital, and Polk County Mental Health.
The MedAssist program helps community members who have no health insurance and who, because of their limited household income, are eligible for reduced or no cost prescription assistance from pharmaceutical companies. These community members often are unable to deal with the complicated application forms developed by pharmaceutical companies that must be submitted in order to receive assistance. Each pharmaceutical company has developed its own unique application and set of eligibility criteria. If an applicant does not submit the right forms correctly and fully completed, the pharmaceutical company will disregard the application in its entirety.
Medical practitioners, strapped for time in meeting patient needs, are often unable to keep up-to-date with the multiplicity of forms, let alone complete the applications and manage the process on their patients’ behalf. More than 90% of Marion and Polk County practitioners refer patients who they believe are eligible for prescription assistance to our program. Our MedAssist advocates and volunteers help patients referred by doctors to complete and submit applications for low or no cost prescriptions to the appropriate pharmaceutical companies.
The program was launched in March 2002 and has been steadily growing ever since. In 2009, MedAssist staff and volunteers helped hundreds of local citizens access free prescription medications valued at $1,462,209.85. In the first eight months of 2010, MedAssist had already eclipsed 2009 by providing nearly $1.8 million in prescriptive medications.
In 2009, Project Access and MedAssist working together and in partnership with the local healthcare community provided access to healthcare and prescriptive medications valued at an incredible $5,013,321.42! In the first eight months of 2010, the two programs provided more than $8 million in medication and medical services. These programs continue to grow, and we expect to provide even more in services and medications in 2011.