Photo credit: Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun. Horencia Sanchez, 36, discusses her dental options Tuesday with office clerk Carmen Garcia at the Nevada Health Centers location at 2212 S. Eastern Avenue. The increase of uninsured patients has hurt the nonprofit Nevada Health Centers, which has 33 locations across the state.
According to Marshall Allen of the Las Vegas Sun the fact that the medical safety net is at the breaking point is the recession.
The number of patient visits is up 25 percent to about 205,000 a year, and an increasing number of them — almost three in 10 — are uninsured, Nevada Health Centers CEO Tom Chase said. And when the uninsured agree to greatly reduced payment plans, they frequently stiff the agency.
Guess they haven’t heard of Sue Lowden’s proposal that they simply go to any doctor and offer a few chickens for their health problems.
More than 600,000 Nevadans are expected to be without health insurance in 2010. Nevada Health Centers is a $28 million organization that qualifies for federal grants and funding because its 33 locations are in far-flung towns such as Beatty and Elko and blighted urban parts of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas. Patients who qualify get discounts on services. A typical physical examination and medical history, with lab tests, costs about $45 for a low-income patient — about half what it costs the organization, Chase said.
The organization’s struggles are bad news for people such as Patricia Annis of Henderson. Annis, 67, is a retired legislative aid whose teeth are breaking. She’s desperate for care and heard about a Nevada Health Centers’ program providing free dental work to low-income elderly patients. Her $733 a month in Social Security income qualifies her.
“I’ve had two teeth die on me,” Annis said. “I’ve had to find a way to get temporary treatment from a private dentist, but I need a root canal.”
The problem is Nevada Health Centers is flooded with low-income elderly with dental needs, Chase said. The $150,000 dental-care grant was divided evenly between Nevada Health Centers in Elko and Las Vegas, and the money is going fast, Chase said.
Maybe the health care clinic can refer Ms. Annis to Sue Lowden.
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I really need info on how to get some dental care at little or no cost to me. I am on a very limited income, if there is any help out there please let me know.
Larry Southard
Hello Larry. I no longer have my teeth (have dentures) and am well past the need for a dentist. Maybe the Nevada Health Centers at http://www.nvrhc.org/ has a solution for you. I don’t personally know, never had to use them. I don’t know where you are so I can’t narrow suggestions down for you.
Good luck.
Featheriver
MY FATHER WORKED IN HIS TRUCK HEADLIGHTS TILL THE SUN CAME UP , ALL DAY TILL THE SUN SET, & IN HIS HEADLIGHTS AGAIN DOING REINFORCEMENT STEELE BENEATHE HOUSES TO FEED 4 KIDS…NOW HE IS ON DISABILITY, BARELY SURVIVING, WHAT PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE TO HIM TO HELP HIM WITH RENT, UTILS., MEDICAL, OR DENTAL? THERE MUST BE SOMETHING…?
Hello Angela. I apologize for my tardiness in replying to you, just so much to do and so little time. I have no idea where your father lives and am at a loss as to how to answer you. If you e-mail me at featheriver@hughes.net and provide me some more information I’ll do my best to steer you to the right place.
where can i sign up for low income or free dental work on emergency dental
Nevada Medical and Dental Clinic may help you. You need to go there and ask to be seen. I would go at 8 am. If they can fit you in, they will take you the same day, although it might take a long wait in the waiting room for a spot to be open. Check the internet for locations near you.
I HAVE BEEN OUT OF WORK FOR A YEAR AND MY TEETH ARE FALLING OUT ONE BY ONE. I AM WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THE ABSESS MIGHT DO TO THE REST OF MY HEALTH AND IT MAY BE POSSIBLE THAT I CAN’T GET WORK BECAUSE OF THE CONDITION OF MY TEETH. IS THERE SOME CHARITY THAT CAN DO THE NECESSARY DENTAL WORK NEEDED AT LOW OR NO COST TO ME.
I am a dental patient at Nevada Health Center on Eastern Ave. I am also a low income senior citizen. I recently had to have 2 teeth removed and added to my dentures. They were both abcessed. It get a 50% discount on dental work. Removal of the teeth was 90.00/ea. and x rays cost $48.00. Adding the tooth to the existing partial was $118.00/ea. A lot cheaper than the regular dentist, but still expensive for me. Is there a grant out there for people like me.