Dear Editor,

The April 6 issue of the Ballard News-Tribune included a letter to the editor titled ‘Swedish community health medical home’ by Doug Bungert from Ventura County, CA, former chair and director of Health Care For All California.

Mr. Bungert’s letter accurately points out one of the fundamental flaws in the American health-care system – the millions of uninsured and under-insured people in this country. Nonetheless, even when programs like those at Swedish Community Health Medical Home Clinic are offered – where individuals can purchase primary care for just $45 per month – clearly there will be people who cannot even afford that small cost.

The new Community Health Medical Home clinic at Swedish/Ballard addresses this problem in two ways. First, one of our key collaborators is Molina Healthcare of Washington – a Medicaid managed-care organization. We selected Molina since they have 30 years of experience and only deliver healthcare to the financially vulnerable. Molina has been a wonderful partner in supporting the clinic, enrolling patients, and helping develop a unique and sustainable financing structure for this model of primary care. In fact, up to 50 percent of the patients cared for at this clinic will be Medicaid patients.

Secondly, the clinic is also open to low-income, uninsured patients. Individuals whose annual income is below $10,830 (less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level) qualify for a full discount through the charity-care program at Swedish, and will be seen in the clinic free of charge. In fact, the emergency departments at Swedish are already sending low-income, uninsured patients who they see to our Ballard clinic so they can fully access the primary care they need and deserve.

Jay Fathi, M.D.
Medical Director, Primary Care and Community Health
Swedish Medical Center