HANCOCK - With Michigan's poor economy, many workers are either being laid off or having their hours cut, which reduces their income and makes keeping health insurance difficult or impossible. Filling that coverage gap is the purpose of the nonprofit Western Upper Peninsula Healthcare Access Coalition.
Carolyn Williams, WUPHAC pharmacy and administrative coordinator, said the organization began in 2005 after some community members got together and decided such a service was needed locally. They modeled the WUPHAC on a similar organization, the Marquette Medical Care Access Coalition.
"There was a federal Healthy Community Access grant that got everybody going," she said.
Service for WUPHAC members is provided by local health care professionals, Williams said.
"Doctors donate limited visits," she said. "Hospitals donate basic lab work and plain film X-rays."
CAT scans and MRIs are not part of the service, Williams said.
Those who use the WUPHAC have some income, Williams said, but not enough to pay for health insurance.
"Applicants for our program can't have any insurance benefits," she said.
Before going through the application process with the organization, Williams said potential applicants must first be denied Medicaid coverage from the Department of Human Services, which requires those who receive the insurance have little or no income. The denial must have been within the past 90 days from the day of application to WUPHAC.
Williams said WUPHAC has no assets testing for its members.
"It's strictly income-based," she said.
The WUPHAC service is open to people 19 to 64 years old, Williams said. They can have no pending litigation for illness or injury, and their income must be less than 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline.
Since 2005, Williams said the WUPHAC has seen a continuous increase in people asking about and joining the organization.
"We see a lot more phone calls and a lot more walk-in traffic," she said.
Many people who are members of the organization have either been laid off and lost their employer-provided health insurance, Williams said, or they've had their hours cut and can no longer afford employer-provided insurance.
Williams said as of December 2008, 63 percent of the people in the program were employed, 59 percent were female and most are 45 to 54 years old.
Sherri Dulong, WUPHAC program and volunteer coordinator, said 95 percent of those who make contact about the service end up in the program.
The state of Michigan has a variety of insurance programs for economically challenged residents, but Dulong said because of the state's financial problems, those may not be available.
"It's hard when the state puts a freeze on its insurance programs," she said.
Currently, Williams said WUPHAC doesn't offer dental coverage, but its 11-member board of directors are considering changing that fact.
"They're hoping to expand to dental," she said. "It's something that's been talked about for a long time."
Dulong said the WUPHAC needs volunteers to do office work, cover special events and act as enrollment counselors. Since the organization is nonprofit, it seeks monetary donations, also.
For more information about becoming a member of WUPHAC, call 482-7122, or go online to wuphac.org.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com.
