Hopkins County

Low Income Primary Care Access

Summary of Information:

Low Income Population: 15,959 (at or below 200% FPL, 1998)

Total practicing primary care physicians: 13

Regular full time equivalency: 13

Full time equivalents serving the low-income population: 5.4

Ratio of low-income population to low-income FTE: 2,956:1

Considered a shortage of providers: No

Physicians accepting new patients: 77%

Physicians accepting new patients who have Medicaid coverage: 77%

Physicians who can provide interpretation for non-English speaking patients: 77%

Languages interpreted: Spanish

What are the barriers to health care for people in your county?

“No barriers”—This response was given from each physician office surveyed.

Are there additional barriers for the low-income population?

“They get health care easier than the general population.”

“No barriers.”

“We see all patients and I think most of the doctors in the area do, too -- regardless of their ability to pay.”

“Not a lot of doctors take indigent patients. The hospital has an indigent program. If we cannot work out a payment plan with patients we send them to the clinic in Commerce that has a sliding fee scale.”

Community Input:

Community health workers emphasize a need for bilingual providers and aides because of the booming Hispanic population.

Additional barriers include: 1) service hours; 2) transportation; 3) dental care; 4) paperwork, especially work indigent population; and physicians will not see or do not advertise that they will see indigent.

These and other issues prevent people from accessing services.

There is a high incidence of teenage pregnancies, high sexually transmitted disease transmission rate, and no referral plan for homeless people, except churches.

Prepared by Community Health Provider Resources, Texas Department of Health, as part of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation East Texas Rural Access Program; Spring 2001