HB 3097- Safety Net Bill

HB 3097- Safety Net Bill

Note: This bill is a compilation of the three safety net bills: (SB 562, HB 3250, and HB 2850). Directly impact safety net

Summary:

Requires the Department of Human Services to award grants to local health care providers and communities to improve access to health care by low-income persons.

Promotes health delivery system reform.

Establishes Community Health Investment Pilot Project Fund.

Continuously appropriates moneys from fund to department for purpose of grants.

Establishes rural health clinic assistance fund.

Establishes Health Insurance Exchange Program.

More details?

The problem that this bill aims to address is: The current healthcare system in the United States is unsustainable due to rising costs and an increasing number of uninsured individuals. Particularly alarming is the increase in the number of small business employees who are uninsured. Without a health home, many low-income and other vulnerable populations are left to inefficiently navigate a fragmented treatment system that fails to support their long-term well-being. Moreover, the number of visits to hospital emergency rooms for preventable conditions continues to grow: The health care system is fragmented, access to care is episodic, and relationships between patients and providers are strained. In recent years, numerous community health collaborative- organizations and health care safety net clinics have emerged around the state to address health care concerns at a local level, and through innovation and public-private collaboration have demonstrated great success and show even greater promise in improving health care access for local residents. A primary care home is designed to link each patient to a personal health care provider who works with a team of health professionals. It offers timely and convenient access, either directly or by referral, to a full spectrum of medical, mental health and dental primary care services, including preventive, acute, integrated behavioral health and chronic care management services: It requires health professionals to work in partnership with patients to identify health goals and to share responsibility for achieving the goals; allows patients to easily navigate and access the broader health care system and social or educational services; and may provide patients with transportation and other services that improve access to care The redesign of the health care delivery system and expanding access is important to ensure a more efficient, patient centered health care system with better health outcomes, especially for uninsured and the uninsured.