The Access to Health Care task force has focused on promoting awareness of the uninsured population nationally as well as in Douglas County.

Keynote speaker Marcia Nielsen from the Kansas Health Policy Authority speaks with attendees following the CHIP breakfast meeting highlighting national Cover the Uninsured Week.

The task force has promoted services available to those who have no insurance or limited insurance in Douglas County through open houses during national Cover the Uninsured Week each spring. In Spring 2007, the task force hosted a breakfast highlighting awareness of the week and inviting speakers to address the topic. Marcia Nielsen, director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority; Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; and Gene Meyer, CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital addressed health care coverage and costs at the local and state level for those in attendance.

For Cover the Uninsured Week 2008, CHIP partnered with Kansas Healthcare for All in downtown Lawrence to distribute information on the plight of uninsured Kansans along with available healthcare option in Douglas County.

In addition, the task force has worked with local schools to promote the availability of HealthWave, a low-cost health insurance option for children. For more information, please visit http://www.kansashealthwave.org.

Task Force members work together on access to health care to share resources, apply for additional resources as a group, and keep from duplicating efforts and measure outcomes of efforts to improve access to health care in Douglas County.

Goals and Objectives:

A visitor in the Community Health Facility stops to look over information provided by local agencies concerning available healthcare options in Douglas County during Cover the Uninsured Week.

HP 2010 Objectives:

1. Increase the proportion of people with health insurance
   (90%) Goal = 100%
2. Increase the proportion of persons who have a specific source of ongoing health care (76%) Goal = 96%

To get information on where Douglas County residents with limited or no health insurance can receive health care, please click here to download the 'Health Resources Grid.doc', from April, 2006.