Next RHC Technical Assistance Call: Save the date!

Thursday, February 10, 2011; 2-3pm ETIf you are like most RHCs, small rural hospitals, or critical access hospitals, you have many patients who are uninsured. Sometimes these uninsured patients cannotafford insurance because they have little or no income even though they are relatively healthy. But sometimes, itis because they have a medical condition that causes them to be classified as “high risk” making the cost of health insurance prohibitive or making the individual “uninsurable.”

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish – either in conjunction with the states or independently – an insurance program for so-called “high risk” individuals. The program, called the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan is now available.

NARHC and the federal Office of Rural Health Policy have arranged for representatives from the new federal Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) to make a presentation about this new program as part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance series. If you or someone in your office handles patient billing and comes into contact with patients who are uninsured, you should plan to listen in on this call. Getting people enrolled in these newly formed high risk insurance plans can benefit both you and the patients.

Call-in information:

• Phone number: 866.288.9872
• Participant Passcode: 13951