It’s getting harder for Georgia residents to access health care, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau released this month. Georgia’s uninsured rate climbed to 13.4 percent in 2017, making it the fourth-most uninsured state in the country.
And in Bibb County, that rate is even higher.
With health care costs on the rise, treatment can be hard to come by for those who have to pay out of pocket. Macon Volunteer Clinic aims to fill the void for the thousands of Bibb County residents who might go without care otherwise.
“It’s really difficult to have a good quality of life and to be a thriving, successful member of society if you’re not healthy and you don’t feel good,” said Rita McCurdy, executive director of the nonprofit clinic.
McCurdy described Macon Volunteer Clinic as “a homegrown solution to a very serious problem.” A team of 294 volunteers keeps the clinic running Monday through Friday, two to five hours a day. Dental students offer free teeth cleanings, retired physicians conduct check-ups and medical school professors fill out patient records in between grading exams.
The medical center provides medical, dental and eye care to uninsured Macon residents, as well as nutrition and mental health counseling, completely free of charge.
In 2017, Macon Volunteer Clinic logged 5,294 patient encounters and granted over $1 million in prescription assistance. In total, volunteers spent nearly 6,000 hours helping out at the clinic.
Dr. Carl Lane has volunteered for the clinic since 2011. A retired cardiothoracic surgeon, he sees patients every Wednesday and Thursday morning.
“I’ve really enjoyed meeting so many of the patients,” Lane said. “They always seem very appreciative of the care.”
Oftentimes, new patients come in who haven’t been to a doctor’s office in years, Lane said. He frequently treats patients suffering from chronic diseases, like diabetes or hypertension, who might not have even known they had developed the condition.
“It’s really gratifying to identify these things and try to get people squared away, trying to get them healthy again,” he said.
Lane’s goal is to provide preventative care, so patients can get help before a health issue snowballs out of control. If uninsured patients have regular access to health care, they don’t have to go to the hospital whenever they get sick. Without the clinic, 80 percent of Macon Volunteer Clinic’s visitors would rely on the emergency room for care, according to patient surveys.
“The emergency rooms have told us that a lot of the care we give here helps prevent people from getting to a situation where they have to go to the emergency room,” Lane said.
And that not only lightens the load at Macon’s emergency departments — it also saves money, he said.
“If we can keep people maintaining good health in a preventive manner, economically, for the whole health care system and the patient, it’s incredibly less expensive than trying to get people out of complicated medical illnesses that they just have to be treated,” Lane said.
Charles Ellis doesn’t know what he’d do without Macon Volunteer Clinic. Ellis came for his first appointment about 10 years ago, when he left his job to go out on his own and lost his employee insurance. He visits the clinic four or five times a year for blood pressure checks, eye exams, flu shots and toothaches.
Macon Volunteer Clinic caters specifically to people like Ellis. Patients must be uninsured, employed and between the ages of 18 and 64. They also must earn no more than 200 percent of the 2018 federal poverty level, which is $50,200 for a four-person household.
McCurdy said the requirements are so strict because they allow the clinic to serve a population that often falls through the cracks. Patients at Macon Volunteer Clinic are ineligible for PeachCare or Medicare because of their age. They also earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance.
“Many people are working but don’t have health insurance or access to health insurance,” McCurdy said. “So that’s a very specific population that has an income, and they often don’t possibly qualify for other kinds of help.”
When those uninsured patients don’t have access to medical care, it impacts the greater community, McCurdy said.
“It’s really the cornerstone of families. It’s the cornerstone of individual success and prosperity,” she said. “We want our community to be strong and that’s not possible unless each and every member of that community is as healthy as they can possibly be.”
Keeping patients healthy is no small task for a volunteer staff juggling classes, residencies and other jobs. Lane said the extra hours of work are worth it, though. Not only has he formed relationships with his patients, but he’s also become friends with his colleagues at the clinics.
“Most times volunteers are pretty nice people to work with. Otherwise they wouldn’t volunteer,” he said. “And so, I think we’ve sort of developed a camaraderie of people who work here. We just enjoy working together and have a common goal of trying to help folks that need health care but don’t have access to it otherwise.”
Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member and reports for The Telegraph with support from the News/CoLab at Arizona State University. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/samantha.max.9 and on Twitter @samanthaellimax. Learn more about Report for America at www.reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published September 21, 2018 7:16 PM.