How is the health law working on the local level?

Jul 22 2014

News outlets offer local takes on how the health law is having an effect on the ground.

Detroit Free Press: With Federal Help, Midtown Mental Health Clinic Treating Body And Mind
Opened in March, Detroit Central City is the first community mental health clinic in southeast Michigan to become a specially designated, federally qualified health clinic to integrate mental health care with physical health, or primary care. So far the program has $793,750 in federal funding under the Affordable Care Act to establish a clinic that integrates care. That means mental health and substance abuse counselors are working side by side with medical staff such as [nurse practitioner Lisa] Norris to serve some of the city's most troubled residents (Erb, 7/21).

Miami Herald: Affordable Care Act Creates Residencies For Doctors In South Florida Health Centers
[Dr. Andrius] Lescauskas and a dozen other doctors under [Community Health of South Florida, Inc.'s] supervision are the first in Florida to be accepted into residencies as a result of a provision in the Affordable Care Act that establishes grants for the training of primary-care physicians. The aim is to address a severe shortage of such doctors nationwide (Madigan, 7/20).

Philadelphia Inquirer: Rumors Of An Obamacare-inspired Demise For A St. Luke's Clinic Untrue
Alan Brooks' wife Cherylann, a diabetic with high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), needed health insurance she couldn't afford. And now a charity clinic, her last lifeline to care, was being forced to close, purportedly because of the Affordable Care Act. But it was just idle gossip. In June, Brooks called the hospital's financial office asking for help finding his wife health insurance, since he thought the clinic was closing. The hospital worker assured him that the hospital fully intends to keep offering care at the charity clinic. Cherylann, now 59, had her annual checkup last month (Calandra, 7/20).