One in eight Americans 'medically underserved'

An estimated 36 million Americans, many of whom are insured or eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, have no easy access to a doctor or other caregiver, according to a report released Tuesday.

These people are separate from the estimated 43 million Americans who lack any kind of health insurance to pay for their care, the National Association of Community Health Centers said in its report.

“One in eight Americans -- that’s 12 percent of the population -- are who we call ’medically unserved,’ with no access to health care,” Dan Hawkins, the association’s vice president for policy, told a news conference.

“They live in inner cities and in isolated rural communities. But no matter where they live, the story is the same: They can’t get health care because there aren’t enough doctors in their communities who are willing or able to care for them.”

Better funding needed
The group said better funding for community health centers could help bridge the gap and called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Congress to provide more funding.

“I am not saying that we are a panacea, but we are a large part of the solution,” said Dr. Gary Wiltz, medical director of Teche Action Board, a community health center in Franklin, Louisiana.

Community health centers use a combination of public and private funding to provide affordable or free health care to local residents. The National Association of Community Health Centers said there are centers in 3,500 U.S. communities.

President Bush has called for increased funding for them, up to $2 billion a year by 2006.

The association report found that half of the 36 million people with no regular access to a doctor have some form of health insurance, either through an employer or through Medicare, Medicaid and other aspects of the state-federal health insurance system.

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But they cannot use it because local doctors do not accept their insurance or there are no health care facilities nearby.

“At 28 percent, Latinos have the highest concentration of medically unserved people,” the group said in a statement.

Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan and Missouri were among the states with the most people affected, the group found.

Patients with no regular doctor or other health care provider are more likely to wait until they are acutely ill to seek care and often end up in an emergency department.

“Where the unserved live, there are higher rates of infant and childhood illnesses and higher mortality rates,” Wiltz said.