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FACES OF HOPE New Health Goal: Financial Wellness; Covenant Helps Many Manage Medical Costs

Posted on: Sunday, 7 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

As complications from diabetes and asthma continued to escalate, Andrea Thomas found herself backed against a wall medically and financially.

Forced to quit working as a cook at an east side cafe when it became necessary that she constantly breathe from an oxygen tank, the 49-year-old worried how she would get the medication and treatments she needed without a job.

"I was scared because I didn't have any insurance," Thomas said. "I didn't know what I would do."

But then last May, during an overnight hospital stay brought on by her asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Thomas got a visit from a Covenant Healthcare System financial counselor.

After filling out some paperwork, the counselor helped Thomas get accepted to Milwaukee County's General Assistance Medical Program, a county and state funded program that purchases health care for uninsured and indigent county residents.

"(The counselors) looked at my income and made sure that I qualified, and then we went ahead with it," she said. "Their help made it really simple, and it didn't take more than 15 days (to be accepted)."

Since 1995, Covenant Healthcare has used financial counselors to help individuals such as Thomas apply for medical assistance.

"We help uninsured or self-pay people with their bills any way we can. We help them get on GAMP or Medicaid and Medicaid disability, or BadgerCare for families. And if they don't qualify for any other program, that's when the charity program, Community Care, comes into play," said Georgene Trapp, Covenant's financial counseling supervisor.

From the beginning of the year through last month, counselors have helped more than 1,000 patients get assistance through the county's medical assistance program, and more than 500 patients through BadgerCare.

The counselors offer assistance with paperwork and help collect needed application materials to help speed up the process and eliminate error. In all, 11 counselors are available at four Covenant locations, including St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, St. Francis Hospital, Elmbrook Memorial Hospital and St. Michael Hospital. Counselors work from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at most hospitals. Walk-ins are welcome, and foreign language interpreters also are available.

Although many of the assistance programs have been available for some time, many people still do not know they exist, Trapp said.

"And even more don't know about the discount programs available through the hospital alone," she said.

"Many patients are unaware that there is a discount program at each hospital, not just Covenant," she said. "They're at Aurora, Columbia and others."

Household size, income matters

Qualifications for medical assistance are based on household size and income. For example, individuals applying for the General Assistance Medical Program can make no more than $902 a month. In most cases, the application process takes about two weeks. Some programs also work retroactively for outstanding bills patients cannot pay.

Counselors attempt to sign patients up for the state and county programs first because they can be used at any clinic or hospital, while the Community Care program can be used only at Covenant sites, Trapp said.

The benefit of these programs also reaches beyond the individual patient to the community at large, she said.

"It helps the patient because it gives them a sense of self- importance and they know that now they have some type of insurance and a way to pay their bills," she said.

"When the bill is paid, it helps us keep the hospital running and open," she added. "And that helps the whole community."

For patients such as Thomas, the help she got not only pays current medical bills but also previous ones through the Community Care program.

"I would be lost without their help, absolutely lost," she said.

Covenant Health Care System Financial Counseling Service

MISSION: To live out the healing ministry of Jesus by providing exceptional and compassionate health care service that promotes the dignity and wellbeing of the people we serve.

ADDRESSES AND PHONES: Elmbrook Memorial Hospital, 19333 W. North Ave., (262) 785-2000; St. Francis Hospital, 3237 S. 16th St. (414) 647-5000; St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, 5000 W. Chambers St., (414) 447-2000; St. Michael Hospital, 2400 W. Villard Ave. (414) 527- 8000

WEB SITE: www.covhealth.org

"Faces of Hope" focuses on people in the Milwaukee area who need a hand and the agencies that are helping them, Ideas? Call: Urban Affairs Editor James E. Causey, (414) 224-2318, or e-mail jcausey@journalsentinel.com.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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