Accessibility menu
State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Local Health Clinic Fills a Gap for the Working Poor
Recently, I had the opportunity to tour St. Mary's Health Clinic in Maplewood. The tour opened my eyes to how one group is helping solve one of the biggest challenges our community faces. That challenge is providing health care to the uninsured.
St. Mary's Health Clinics were first opened in 1992 by the Sisters of St. Joseph to provide free health care to low income, uninsured people. Today there are 9 clinic sites operating around the Twin Cities in spaces donated by host facilities, including one in Maplewood. Last year the clinic physicians and nurses provided over 5,000 patient visits, with the help of a committed group of volunteer administrators and interpreters.
St. Mary's Clinics serve the low-income uninsured. Most of St. Mary's patients work. The problem is, their part-time or full time jobs either don't provide health insurance, or offer coverage that's not affordable. Many of the people St. Mary's serves are caught in a coverage gap. Their incomes are too high to qualify them for public health insurance programs like Medicaid or MinnesotaCare, but they don’t make enough to buy their own insurance. By providing access to basic health care and medications, St. Mary's is the only place where many of the uninsured from our area can get help with everything from a sore throat to managing their diabetes treatment.
But even with the tremendous work these clinics do, the problem is way too big for one organization. According to the U.S. Census, 458,000 people in Minnesota alone lack health insurance. Last year, I helped fight off a plan that would have added 40,000 more working Minnesotans to that number by cutting them off the MinnesotaCare program.
On Wednesday, March 1st, the 2006 Legislative session began. Legislation will once again be offered that would permit small employers and families to purchase affordable health coverage through MinnesotaCare or the state employee health plan, at no cost to the state. This would be a valuable benefit to thousands of Minnesotans who have few other options, and could very possibly reduce the cost for all subscribers by adding more people to the pool.
Helping the uninsured get access to health care may be one of the biggest moral issues of our time. People who don’t have health insurance have more illnesses and die younger than those who do, even when all else is equal. I applaud the terrific work the Sisters of St. Joseph, physicians and volunteers do at St. Mary's Clinics. I think that all Minnesotans deserve access to affordable health care, and I will keep working in the Legislature to support bills that increase that access.
If you have comments or questions on this or any other legislative issues, please contact me at (651) 296-1188, by e-mail at rep.leon.lillie@house.mn, or at 353 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155.
News Items
- SUPPORTING RESPONSIBLE HOMEOWNERS AND STABILIZING NEIGHBORHOODS - (Posted: 2012-03-01 00:00:00)
- Email Update -- Feb. 16, 2012 - (Posted: 2012-02-16 00:00:00)
- 2012 LEGISLATIVE SESSION PREVIEW - (Posted: 2012-01-26 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.