Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Mass. Effort in Good Health on 1st Birthday, Pt.4 -- One, of many strong cases.

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The model is a little ahead on its course and doing well, but we need to stay grounded with good advice from organizations such as the Kaiser Family Foundation and “USA Today” writers, like Julie Appleby. Gleaning a little more from Ms. Appleby, she informs us of the effect on the medical care providers. She speaks of the significant effect this extended health insurance coverage is having on “hospitals, doctor's offices and clinics” in the area. To mention just one of the area’s larger providers, Cambridge Health Alliance, they report an increase of 16% “in visits since the expanded program helped many patients get [health] insurance.” This is yielding another very desired effect touted by both of our presidential nominee campaigns – it is providing an increase in preventive care. The Director of Revere Family Health Center, is Somava Stout. This center is one of the 20 run by Cambridge Health Alliance. Somava explains that these newly-insured patients “are more likely to come in for preventive care. For some, [health] insurance has meant survival.”

As a typical live example of this strong statement, Ms. Stout provides the case of Kathleen Richard. Kathleen was dying from thyroid cancer. Somava diagnoses that Kathleen “would not be alive today if she didn't have insurance." That without this health insurance, getting the complex surgery Kathleen needed would have been next to impossible. The very sad reality common to so many of us is that, in the past, Kathleen had always worked and maintained health insurance.

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