Uninsured | Access to Care

Fresno County has been awarded a five-year, multimillion-dollar federal grant to reduce chronic illness, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The county was one of 61 communities nationwide to receive a Community Transformation Grant. Nationwide, $103 million has been set aside for the public health initiative.

Children without a regular dentist are invited to get a free dental exam Saturday [January 4, 2012] at the annual Give Kids a Smile event sponsored by the San Diego County Dental Society.

The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Southwestern College’s Dental Hygiene Program Clinic, 880 National City Blvd., National City. Free services include an exam, fluoride varnish on all teeth and sealant on back teeth to prevent cavities.

This week, the California Senate will consider a previously non-controversial bill aimed at improving dental care for underserved children. After clearing its first hurdles with strong bipartisan support, the bill is now generating some pushback.

Free cholesterol and glucose exams, HIV tests and other health services will be available at the Mexican Consulate’s three-day health fair, beginning Monday [January 23, 2012].

The services are open to the public, not only Mexican nationals, and require no appointment.

The fair runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and each of the three days will feature a different set of services.

Monday’s session will provide education on breast and cervical cancer, including information on prevention and early detection.

As part of federal health care reform, or “Obamacare” as its detractors like to call it, California’s County Medical Services Program expand health care coverage to as estimated 30,000 low-income adults in 34 mostly rural counties.

Mendocino County’s CMSP program currently has between 2,000 and 3,000 “medically indigent” people enrolled each month, said Sharon Hunt, interim branch director for the Department of Public Health. Hunt calls CMSP “our safety net for the working class.”

In the sleepy, riverside town of Palatka in northeast Florida, 86-year-old Betty Wills sees the advertisements of obstetricians and gynecologists on the main road’s billboards and has found specialists ranging from cardiologists to surgeons in the phone book.

But there’s not a single geriatrician — a doctor who specializes in treating the elderly — in all of Putnam County, where a fifth of the county’s 74,000 people are seniors.

Focused on collaboration and prevention, Alameda County is pushing to expand health care and wellness to as many residents as possible.

The county was the first nationwide to accept a federal challenge: provide healthcare to every child eligible under two federal programs: the Children’s Health Insurance Plan, and Medicaid (or Medi-Cal in California).

A panel of Inland-area doctors Thursday [January 5,2012] explained to residents the benefits and shortcomings of the federal health care law that is to go into effect in 2014.

The group gathered for the forum, “What is the Best Medicine for America?” held at the UC Riverside Extension.

Despite a slow start, California’s push to extend health coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions — a three-year stopgap effort until federal healthcare reform fully kicks in — has enrolled more than 6,000 patients.

California now ranks second only to Pennsylvania with the highest number of enrollees in the temporary federally funded insurance plan. The interim coverage helps people with cancer, heart disease and other long-term disorders pay for doctor visits, hospital stays and medications.