The article indicates that the funding will be for eight West Virginia primary care clinics to provide preventative care services to eligible health consumers for a flat $35 per month. The services will include unlimited doctor visits, immunizations and screenings, chronic disease management, and minor surgical procedures.
To be eligible to particpate a person must have a job, be between 19 and 64, and make less than $43,320 for a single person or $88,200 for a family of four. In return, participants have to let the state fold their medical data - blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. - into an anonymous 10,000-person database the state plans to use to make more informed choices as health-care reform unfolds.
The article indicates that the primary care centers involved say the project is intended to:
- generate useful information about uninsured West Virginians and cost-effective ways to treat chronic diseases;
- demonstrate lowered emergency room usage, hospital stays, and times when people don't show up for appointments;
- develop an electronic patient tracking system other centers can use;create a catalogue of best practices that help people take better care of their own health;
- help the health system get ready for 2014, when hundreds of thousands will be newly insured through federal reform.
