Sistersville General Hospital gathered representatives from various community organizations for a luncheon meeting on April 21 to explore the problem of the uninsured, nationally as well as locally.

Lynn McCormick, CEO of Sistersville General Hospital headed up the presentation called “Covering Kids and Families.” She reported the statistics for non-elderly people lacking health insurance coverage in the United States as being 47 million, which includes the more than 33 million from families above the federal poverty level. In fact, the more than eight out of ten of the non-elderly uninsured are from families where there is a working head of household. The premiums for family coverage are simply too costly for most families to bear.

McCormick revealed that there are approximately 241,000 people in West Virginia who do not have health insurance. The consequences for uninsured children are that they are less likely to receive appropriate medical care for preventable and treatable childhood illnesses such as asthma, earaches and sore throats. They are less likely than insured children to get proper medical attention when they are injured and they rarely go to physicians for preventive visits.

McCormick explained measures that show improvement in the health care delivery in Tyler County. There are currently nine providers in the county, whereas in the past there were only three physicians.

The triage system in the Emergency Room at SGH has progressed by having a nurse practitioner on hand to treat non-emergency cases with appropriate care at a fraction of the cost of an emergency room visit. The hospital is also working with Tyler County Schools to provide a nurse practitioner available at the schools on a regular basis.

This provision will possibly be realized at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.

The emphasis of the meeting was to reach out to the public and increase awareness of available health care coverage programs. McCormick explained that SGH has a sliding pay scale based on income to help individuals who do not qualify under other programs. She introduced Donna Ice, who is the financial assistance counselor representing the Department of Health and Human Resources at SGH.

Ice gave a presentation showing the two-page form that simplifies the application process for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and for Medicaid. CHIP is a program with no cost to apply and no premiums or deductibles. At higher income levels there are low-cost co-pays for certain services. At all levels there are no-cost dental care, well-child (preventive) visits, vision care and generic prescriptions. Ice can be reached for more information at 447-2541.

Other parties listed among the resources were Diana Rice, outreach coordinator at 447-2454; Patty Wright, social worker at 447-2519; Joan Evans, clinic manager at 447-2507; Tammy Steele, SGH financial counselor, at 447-2456; and Lisa Seagrave, representing Medicine Assistance Program (MAP) at 447-2468.

Among the community representatives at the meeting were representatives from the Ministerial Association and from Adams House Ministries. Sue Pelikan of Adams House reported that due to recent monetary donations, they are setting up a fund to provide assistance for prescriptions and for gasoline expenses for doctor office visits, on a once-in-six-month basis to help as many people as possible.

McCormick announced that Cover the Uninsured Week will be held April 27 through May 3 with events in Charleston. The hope is to bring improved health care coverage to the residents of Tyler County.