Ok, not exactly as it sounds but now that I got your attention, listen up to something pretty innovative and exciting!
Howard County, Maryland (the community we were founded and where our offices are located) is officially making an effort to offer healthcare for all of it's citizens – even those without insurance.
This past week, our entire staff attended an exciting event held by Howard County Government and the Howard County Health Department to officially kick-off their Healthy Howard Access Plan. With over 25 people from the community present to enroll in the program, County officials and other community leaders were present to unveil the details of this exciting program and start enrollment. One politician commented, it’s no longer a question of ‘if’ we’ll have universal healthcare in this country, but rather how we’ll have universal healthcare. In a nutshell, this plan will provide healthcare for uninsured Howard County residents.
The event was a momentous time in Howard County! Enrollment is now underway and people are excitedly waiting to see what happens and how it positively impacts the uninsured in Howard County. Equally important, leaders in jurisdictions all over the country are watching to see how this plan will work. If successful, it will serve as a model for how services can be made available to uninsured people all over the United States with government, health care institutions, foundations, non profit organizations and some companies in the private sector cooperating.
Ken Ulman, Howard County Executive and brother of our Foundaer, Doug Ulman, and his team under the direction of Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County Health Officer, have worked tirelessly to make his vision of health care for all a reality. As we all know, many cancer diagnoses are made dangerously late particularly in those patients who do not get regular health screenings and check ups due to lack of health insurance or access to health care. This plan will assure that the clients will have 6 primary care visits (plus an additional GYN appointment for women) annually in addition to recommended screenings for early detection of disease. This level of care will certainly save lives and greatly improve the quality of life for it's participants.
Congrats to Ken Ulman, Dr. Bielenson and the entire hardworking team at the Howard County Health Department for having the innovation, dedication and will to introduce such an exciting initiative! There hard work is going to help change lives and possibly the healthcare system as we know it!
Find below an article that appeared in the Washington Post last week about the groundbreaking program.
Washington Post Article
Brock Yetso
Executive Director
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment