Creating a “Good Samaritan”
Network of Charity Clinics
• Across the U.S., physicians donate their time to provide free
or low-cost care to patients in need through private, nonprofit
clinics that are an important part of the health care safety net.
• In 2010, there were at least 1,000 free clinics in the U.S.
Care that is cost effective
• Cost of care in an emergency room: At least $1,000
• Cost in Federal Community Health Centers: $140-$280
• Cost of a visit to a non-government charity clinic: $13
Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute October 17, 2013
Why this alternative is needed:
The ObamaCare Red Tape Tower
• Doctors are increasingly
burdened by an avalanche of
new ObamaCare regulations
• Government expansion is
threatening to strangle this
cornerstone of a civil society
• A new network is needed to help
increase the profile of charity
clinics, and to provide expertise
and an opportunity to learn from
one another. The State Policy
Network provides the template.
Why a Good Samaritan Network?
• Supply: Tens of thousands of physicians are retiring early and will
have time and skills to donate. Others just want to care for patients
free of Medicaid and ObamaCare Exchange bureaucracy
• Demand: ObamaCare will leave at least 30 million uninsured
Providing charity care promotes civil society and builds communities
while saving taxpayer dollars.
Opportunities for action:
• Encourage medical professionals to donate their services
• Ask others to donate supplies, clerical and maintenance services
• Work on policy changes to encourage more charitable participation
• Build a network by connecting existing clinics and starting new
ones
Source: http://www.wafreeclinics.org/admin/mod-cms/viewattachment.php?id=498
Healing Shepherd Clinic,
Fort Worth, TX
Safe Harbor Clinic,
Standwood, WA
Hope Medical Clinic, Round Rock, TX
The Founders Clinic, Oregon City, OR
Body of Christ Community
Clinic, Belton, TX
Zarephath Health Center
Founded by Drs.
Alieta and John
Eck
• The Ecks spend 6 hours a week volunteering in a free
health care clinic they started in Somerset, NJ
• “Charity is something I need to do…. It ennobles me
and it ennobles the patient.”
• “I can honestly say that I come away each time
feeling good, that I was able to make a difference.”
For more about Zarephath and the Drs. Eck, see: http://youtu.be/iIUkQdo_sOo
And http://www.zhcenter.org/index.php