Newly uninsured up 50% at community clinics

[Liberal_in_LA]

Newly uninsured up 50% at community clinics
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Inge Marie Phillips started working at 18 and immediately received health insurance through her employer. Over the next four decades, she was never without coverage - that is, until she was laid off from her job as a telephone operator.

The 58-year-old Newark woman went without insurance for a brief period - during which she suffered a heart attack - but now has found a way to get her health needs met, even though she hasn't found a new job or affordable private health insurance.

In June, Phillips started getting her care through the Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, which is part of a network of community clinics that provide medical services at low or no cost. She is part of a growing number of patients - laid off, newly uninsured or uninsurable and in need of care - who find themselves seeking services at their local community health clinics for the first time.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/09/09/MNEL19E3KK.DTL#ixzz0QeyEhsO4