Access to Health Care

Access to health care is fundamental to the mission of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. As our mission states, we aim to provide leadership, advocacy and resources that eliminate barriers to health for the uninsured and underserved in our service area.

In the health care industry, safety net health care represents the diverse group of providers that serve these vulnerable populations. It’s where people go for health care when they have nowhere else to go. Perhaps they lack traditional employer-based health care because of lost a job, or they may be individuals with mental or physical disabilities. These individuals do not have the option to choose from a large list of private health care providers. They often visit the nearest public health department, community clinic or public hospital - providers that accept Medicaid or provide sliding-scale services. These organizations have organizational and legal missions to be providers of last resort.

Safety net providers offer important community services with limited resources, and are continually stretched beyond capacity. Our difficult economic times only exacerbate their needs through increased demand for their services.

At the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, we take seriously our dedication to our local safety net providers by providing support through our foundation defined grants, while being an advocate for vulnerable populations.

Resources

National

  • The cost of poor transitions of care

    Netsmart

  • http://familiesusa.org/product/50-state-look-medicaid-expansion-2014

    Families USA, May 30, 2014

  • The Uninsured: A Primer - Key Facts about Health Insurance on the Eve of Coverage Expansions

    Kaiser Family Foundation, Oct. 23, 2013

  • The Uninsured: An Interactive Tool

    Kaiser Family Foundation, November 2013

  • The Role of Medicaid and Medicare in Women's Health Care

    Kaiser Family Foundation, infographic courtesy of the Journal of American Medical Association, May 15, 2013

  • A Short Look at Long-term Care for Seniors

    Kaiser Family Foundation, infographic courtesy of the Journal of American Medical Association, Aug. 28, 2013

  • Substantial Disparities in Health and Health Care Persist Among Populations Across the United States

    Health Affairs/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Aug. 15, 2013

  • State Health Facts
  • National Healthcare Disparities Report 2011

    Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

  • Community Health Centers: The Challenge of Growing to Meet the Need for Primary Care in Medically Underserved Communities

    Policy brief, Kaiser Family Foundation, March 22, 2012

  • Adolescent Health: Coverage and Access to Care

    The Kaiser Family Foundation, Oct. 12, 2011

  • Women Struggle to Find Affordable Coverage in the Individual Market

    The Commonwealth Fund

  • Medicare Implications of Debt-Limit Agree

    Kaiser Family Foundation, September 1, 2011

  • Assessing and Addressing Legal Barriers to the Clinical Integration of Community Health Centers and Other Community Providers

    The Commonwealth Fund, July 15, 2011.

  • Women's Health Care Chartbook: Key Findings from the Kaiser Women's Health Survey

    Kaiser Foundation, May 2011.

  • Safety Net Monitoring

    Baseline data and tools to help monitor the status of local safety nets in providing health care to low-income and other vulnerable populations; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

  • Providing Underserved Patients with Medical Homes: Assessing the Readiness of Safety-Net Health Centers

    The Commonwealth Fund, May 2010

  • The Uninsured: A Primer, Key Facts About Americans Without Health Insurance

    The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2010.

  • Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009

    U.S. Census Bureau, September 2010.

  • KaiserEDU.org Safety Net Tutorial

Regional

News

Regional

  • Emergency room visits for asthma more frequent for Missouri’s poorest children
    St. Louis Public Radio, Aug. 7, 2015
    2015-08-07 08:21
  • Groundwork for Medicare and Medicaid, 50 years old today, was laid by President Truman
    By Mike Sherry for Flatland, July 30, 2015
    2015-08-07 07:40
  • More debate ahead on Medicare ‘observation stays’
    KHI News Service, Aug. 4, 2015
    2015-08-05 14:36
  • Deaf Kansans request Medicaid changes
    KHI News Service, Aug. 3, 2015
    2015-08-05 14:30
  • Dental coverage for patients with Medicaid may not prevent tooth-related ER visits
    Stanford Medicine News Center, Aug. 3, 2015
    2015-08-05 14:22
  • States may tap hospitals to help pay for Medicaid expansion in 2017
    Modern Healthcare, July 21, 2015
    2015-07-22 11:29
More News

From the Blogs

Local Health Buzz