RIAFP Policy
Brief: 5/01/02
RIte
Care
The
existence of a healthy society depends on many things, but the personal
health of each individual is foremost. Rhode Island has made great
strides in the improvement of the personal health of its residents
since the mid nineties by expanding health insurance coverage to almost
all needy children and their parents through the Rite Care program.
This was achieved through the hard work of many people, including
insightful and courageous legislators who had the foresight to pass
funding for such a worthy cause.
We
family physicians, as the primary care givers of our patients, have
witnessed the health improvement this act has accomplished. We have
seen that our vaccination rates for children have become the highest
in the country. We have seen infant mortality drop more than 2 percentage
points. It is no longer common to see children or their parents
arrive in our offices in advanced states of disease because the family
was avoiding medical care for financial reasons. Between the years
1994 and 2000 the number of uninsured people of all ages in Rhode
Island dropped by almost one half from 11.5 to 6.2 percent.
As
primary care physicians we understand how early treatment of disease
can lead to decreased school and work absences, the improved health
of the whole, and a feeling of community well-being. We know how
having insurance coverage can make a difference in people’s health
by giving them access to care before they reach an advanced state
of disease. Under Rite Care we have seen hospital emergency room
visits decrease by two thirds and the average length of hospital stay
decrease by over 7 days.
It
is therefore extremely troubling to us that in these days of tightened
budgets there is talk of decreasing funding of Rite Care. We admit
that having health insurance is not the same thing as being healthy,
but it is hard to have good health without the means to access quality
and affordable health care. We fear that with many of our patients
falling from the Rite Care rolls, they will not be able to afford
even the most basic health care, and the cost and burden of disease
will grow again.
Let
us not dismantle the progress we have made in personal health through
the Rite Care program. Rite Care is a program that works.
The
Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians is the 140 member Rhode
Island affiliate of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the
largest primary care physician organization in the United
States. We are committed to building a health
care system that is comprehensive, family-focused, high-quality, and
well organized.
This
is one in a series of brief reports, designed to explain and advance
Family Practice and primary care in a restructured Rhode Island health
care system, as well as to discuss public health issues of importance
to all Rhode Islanders. We welcome the opportunity to further discuss
the issues presented here.
We
can be reached by phone at 401-453-4176, or at www.riafp.org.
This is one
in a series of reports designed to advance Family Practice and primary
care in Rhode Island's health care system, as well as to discuss public
health issues of importance to all Rhode Islanders.
We welcome
the opportunity to further discuss the issues presented here. We can
be reached by phone at 401-453-4176, or by email at info@riafp.org.
4/16/01
