ACCESS TO CARE

this is good if you are low income and cannot afford to see a doctor. it covers the most basic of health care xray, labs, draw, basic procedures. it does not cover emergency rooms and maternity. but this is good if you need to see a primary doctor on a regular basis but cannot afford to. the enrollment fee is 20 dollars annually and you pay five dollars copay and five dollars for each additional service they cover. so every time you go to the doctor it would cost you 10 – 20 bucks total depending on what you had done (i.e. blood work or an xray) and thats it. no doctor bill or anything. the downside to it is that it takes forever for you to get enrolled if you mail in the application form in july you wont know if you are accepted til mid september early october. and you have to make sure you enroll on time every year since your services started or else they cancel it. i had this program before and it was adequate i did not enroll on time so they canceled it. i had health insurance since then for about 4 years but i had to recently cancel it because i needed the extra money so i am re– enrolling for this program. the other downside is that you have to go to THEIR choice of doctors which is usually some clinic in an urban area that has one doctor. if you say live in blue island or alsip or crestwood and were using access to care you would have to go to the harvey community health clinic also known as aunt marthas. and expect to be there for a few hours but the doctor that is there is a nice person. it is not the greatest but if you are like me and need thyroid medication and birthcontrol to regulate your period but have a mcdonalds salary. then this is ideal cause you can afford it and get your medical needs taken care of.

Sort of a bare bones health plan for the uninsured in suburban Cook County. They make arrangements with area physicians and hospitals to provide office visits and preventative care (blood work, mammograms), and then the patients pay a nominal fee for the service. In a time when about 13% of the US population is uninsured, options such as these will help get people through the rough spots. I work at a hospital in a working class community, and several of our patients rely on Access to Care.
If you’re uninsured and living in suburban Cook County, call them to find out where you can see a doctor. This will save you lots of money.