Health Care Centers

1. Visit a community health center At the 9,000 state- and federally supported public community health centers, no one is turned away because of insurance status or inability to pay. The centers now treat more than 22 million Americans, many of them solidly middle class, and that number is expected to jump another 10 million by 2015, as the ACA ramps up. A survey from the National Association of Community Health Centers found that visits to public health centers by the uninsured increased 21 percent between 2008 and 2009. "Many people didn't know that these centers exist," says Amy Simmons Farber of the NACHC. "Once they go, they are often surprised at the quality of care they get." Health Care Savings •Uninsured and need medical care? A community clinic can help •How to lower out-of-pocket medical costs •7 medical treatments you may not need Indeed, a 2012 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that public health centers equaled or exceeded the standard of care offered by private practices. Health center patients pay on a sliding income scale. At the HealthWorks for Northern Virginia facility in Leesburg, for example, people with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($47,100 for a family of four in 2013; roughly half of that for an individual) average $20 to $30 for a doctor visit. Medicare beneficiaries have no copay for annual wellness visits and many preventive services. Older patients can also get low-cost prescriptions.