HRSA Awards Ohio County $936,000 Grant to Reduce Number of Uninsured

An Ohio county has received a $936,000 grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration's Community Access Program to conduct outreach programs for the uninsured and to improve the county's coordination of care, the Dayton Daily News reports. U.S. Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio) announced the award for Montgomery County on Oct. 16, saying that the funding will help the county "identify" its 85,000 uninsured residents and then "seek out these people and get them the health care services they need." Under the grant, the county's jobs and family services agency will work with health care providers and "human services organizations" to coordinate care for the uninsured. According to health commissioner William Bines, Montgomery County's rate of uninsured surpasses that of metropolitan counties across Ohio (Lamb, Dayton Daily News, 10/16). In fiscal year 2001, $40 million dollars in grant money was made available through the Community Access Program, which, according to HRSA, "expand[s] access for the uninsured by increasing the effectiveness and capacity of the nation's health care safety net at the community level" (HRSA release, 2/8). For further information on state health policy in Ohio, visit State Health Facts Online.