Volunteers in Medicine reported this week in their 2010 Annual Report that it has enrolled 64 percent of uninsured adults who are eligible for their services in Monroe and Owen counties. According to the report, there are approximately 12,000 adults in Monroe and Owen counties without insurance, and 7,637 adults have enrolled with the Volunteers in Medicine clinic to receive care.
According to the VIM Annual Report, over $2,000,000 in care was provided by area health care providers, in 50 specialties ranging from orthopedics and dentistry to neurology and cardiology.
Although most of their report showed increases — in the number of people enrolled, prescriptions dispensed, and in how much money the care and prescriptions they dispensed was worth — there were a couple of areas that had decreases.
Namely, the number of medical visits went down, which the report’s authors attribute to the decrease in the number of hours logged by the more than 300 medical professionals who volunteer at the clinic.
In order to be eligible for health care services through Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), adults must earn at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which is determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A three-person household making at or below $37,060, for example, would qualify for Volunteers in Medicine services.
The Volunteers in Medicine of Monroe County clinic has been open since April 2007, and is part of a nationwide network of clinics dedicated to providing health care to the uninsured.
