- Sen. Sherrod Brown
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some $400 million in the Senate’s version of economic recovery legislation could aid the nation’s free clinics — including 41 in Ohio.
The money is for the Social Service Block Grant program, according to Sen. Sherrod Brown who told Senate leaders about the need for more free clinic support in a Tuesday letter.
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“Annually, the United States spends $1.5 trillion on medical care costs for people with preventable chronic diseases,” Brown wrote. “Investing in free clinics, which provide preventive health services, could prove to dramatically decrease the tremendous costs and immeasurable suffering which results from the lack of preventive care in this country.”
Danny Williams, executive director of the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland, isn’t sure whether that amount is big enough to plug the gap between the people who qualify for government-paid health care and those who don’t. Uninsured people caught in this gap often are served by free clinics.
“I think his intentions are on the money,” Williams said. But even if the United States creates a comprehensive system to provide health care coverage to more Americans, “there’s still going to be this gap,” he said.
The gap is getting wider as the economic recession costs more people their jobs — and the medical insurance they had through their employers, Williams said. The recession also is squeezing small and mid-sized businesses, making more of them unable to afford health care coverage for employees.
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“We really do need some additional support to keep our doors open and to expand our services,” said Williams, whose clinic typically treats up to 11,000 individual patients and receives about $60,000 in block-grant money through the City of Cleveland each year.
Because of the increasing need, the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland is trying to expand its services by opening one Saturday a month, he said. Eventually, Williams hopes to open the clinic every Saturday. But for that to happen, the clinic needs more financial support.