Erie in the News
For more information about Erie Family Health Center, please contact Valerie Comprelli at 312.432.7463 or vcomprelli@eriefamilyhealth.org
Originally posted on the Chicago Tribune website: February 7, 2009
A Chicago clinic cuts fees for uninsured
Some good news for uninsured patients in Chicago: Erie Family Health Center, a chain of clinics on the West Side, has reduced fees for uninsured patients.
The organization’s board of directors voted Thursday to charge patients a minimum of $30 for an initial visit and $10 for any follow-up appointment within 30 days. Previously, the fee for all visits was $30.
(Fees are calculated on a sliding scale basis, based on income. Any visit that occurs within a month of a previous appointment will be billed at $10.)
The change comes after Erie officials noted that fewer uninsured patients with diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses were showing up for appointments, said Dr. Lee Francis, the group’s president.
On Thursday, a board member who went out in the waiting room to talk to patients learned why: “we’re afraid to come because we don’t have the money,” said one person with diabetes, according to Francis’ account.
Although Erie won’t refuse services to people who can’t afford to pay, officials realized patients’ pride and shame about their economic difficulties might be getting in the way. Many people are losing jobs in this economic downturn, having work hours cut and finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet.
Without ongoing care, patients with chronic diseases risk having those illnesses spiral out of control and developing new complications, severely impairing their health.
Erie’s new policy goes into effect in several weeks. Currently, the organization serves about 30,000 uninsured, underinsured and low incomes Chicagoans at locations in West Town and Humboldt Park. For more information about its services, click here.
If you know of other Chicago area clinics that have cut prices to help people in this tough economy, please share that information here so other readers can benefit.