Free clinic for low-income residents to open soon

No health insurance? No problem.\nThe Volunteers in Medicine clinic, which will provide free health care to uninsured residents of Monroe and Owen counties, opens April 23.\nThe clinic will be an expansion of the Community Health Access Program, a medical program for low-income residents.\nLaurie Ann Curry of Monroe County said she was unable to work for five years until she underwent a much needed surgery thanks to the program.\n“It changed my life,” Curry said. “I had no dental insurance. I had no health insurance. ... They absolutely gave me my life back. I might be living in a box (otherwise).”\nThe Volunteers in Medicine clinic is going beyond the Community Health Access Program by adding more physicians and providing “free physician-ordered tests at Bloomington Hospital,” according to the Bloomington Hospital Web site. \n“VIM is going to do more things than CHAP can do,” Curry said. “They will have more physicians (and) services. I think this will drastically change health care in Monroe County.”\nThe clinic is scheduling appointments to evaluate patients for qualification in the program.\n“It’s a good idea for residents to become qualified for care at Volunteers in Medicine before they need to be seen by the clinic’s medical professionals,” said Elizabeth Sturgeon, Volunteers in Medicine’s executive director. \nThose who were CHAP patients already qualify for VIM. Others must prove that they do not have health insurance, that they earn income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and that they meet asset-eligibility requirements, to ensure citizens do not have large sums of money saved despite their low incomes. Current records of applicants’ cash balances for checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, IRA/CD and life insurance must be presented.\n“(VIM) wants to get a complete picture of (the person’s) situation before making a decision,” VIM spokeswoman Mary Roberts Henderson said.\nTo schedule an appointment, call Volunteers in Medicine at 812-353-3533.