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Donated Care Programs: A Stopgap Measure or a Long-Run Alternative to Health Insurance?
- Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 16, Number 3, August 2005
- pp. 421-429
- 10.1353/hpu.2005.0053
- Article
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In the absence of broad federal health care reform, interest has grown in local solutions to the problem of providing health care to the uninsured. Community-based donated medical care models have emerged as one alternative. We examine the early experience of a donated care program in southern Maine called CarePartners. Although such programs are often viewed as a short-term solution for those temporarily without health insurance, we find that CarePartners served a different role for many individuals. While clearly a stopgap measure for some enrollees, CarePartners appears to be a longer-term means for getting access to care for most enrollees.