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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Gwinnett Coalition Improves Health-Care Access For Residents

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Monday, September 19, 2022   

Gwinnett County's uninsured population of 15.6% is slightly higher than the state rate of 15.3%, according to 2020 U.S. census data.

Renee Byrd-Lewis - president and CEO of the Gwinnett Coalition - said individual without health insurance often have less access to care, receive poorer quality of care, and experience worse health outcomes.

She added that Gwinnetthealthfinder.org provides health-care resources to the uninsured as well as underinsured residents.

"So what the website does is allow residents to quickly locate affordable health providers," said Byrd-Lewis, "by city, by ZIP code, or by service category like adult, pediatric, dental, mental health and specialty care."

She said the only providers that are in the system are those who offer Medicaid, Medicare, and PeachCARE for Kids, Sliding Scale Fee, and Self-Pay.

Gwinnett County has the highest number of uninsured residents in the state, according to the latest census data.

Byrd-Lewis noted that racial and ethnic disparities exist in the availability and accessibility of health care, and Gwinnett County has the most diverse population in the Southeast.

She noted that Gwinnett Coalition works to remove cultural and language barriers that would limit residents' access to health care.

"What we did was took the six most common languages in Gwinnett County, and we translated the website into those six languages," said Byrd-Lewis, "and they're of course English, but then Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin. And so that helps folks who don't have English as a first language."

She noted that transportation is also a known barrier, therefore residents can take advantage of the Telemedicine options that are available on the website.




Disclosure: Gwinnett Coalition contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues, Housing/Homelessness, Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Mental Health. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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