As Montgomery faces a $400 million projected budget gap, some council members are questioning the effectiveness of a county health care program for the uninsured, which fell 17 percent short of its target for numbers for patients.
When the Montgomery Cares program was announced in December 2004, officials hoped it would nearly quadruple the number of uninsured individuals being served by fiscal year 2010 — going from 13,000 individuals receiving services at separate, uncoordinated “safety net clinics” to 40,000. Between July 2006 and July 2007, however, Montgomery Cares served 13,300 patients, according to Health and Human Services Director Uma Ahluwalia, roughly the same number as those served by “safety-net” clinics prior to the program’s creation.
Ahluwalia said serving 13,300 patients was 2,700 short of the program’s goal of reaching 16,000 people but a 57 percent increase over the number of patients served by Montgomery Cares in the prior year.
“A 57 percent growth in the number of people served is not inconsequential,” Ahluwalia said. “The question is whether the targets we set were too ambitious given the infancy of the program and infrastructure supports.”
Montgomery Council Health and Human Services Chairman George Leventhal said the program needs additional clinic space and coordinators may need to consider other options besides stationary clinics to provide care.
County and health care leaders say 80,000 to 100,000, or about one in 10, Montgomery residents are uninsured. With the influx of low-income residents the county is experiencing, that number continues to crow.
Jere Stocks, president of Washington Adventist Hospital, said his hospital alone will spend 12 percent more on treating the uninsured in 2007 than in 2006, going from roughly $22 million in 2006 to about $24.5 million in 2007.
“The numbers continue to climb,” Stocks said.
The Montgomery Cares program has a budget of $11.4 million for fiscal year 2008 and a goal of reaching 18,000 people.
Leventhal said problems aside, the program is important for all residents.
“If there is a communicable disease out there, you want to make sure people are being treated,” Leventhal said. “No. 2, we as an economy suffer when people are poor and can’t afford health care and get sick, and without treatment miss more work than otherwise. I also believe there is a moral imperative to do this. We are a generous county and we want to make sure all our residents have access to health care.”
