It's Take Charge Thursday and this week we're talking about health care.

Local health officials say many people in Michiana are coming to them without health insurance, or are close to running out.

They want to stress the importance of keeping your family covered, Even if your only option is a private policy with a high deductible.

But they say there are a lot of different options depending on your family's situation: numerous state programs, as well as national organizations can help you find quality low-cost health insurance coverage.

They say if you're having trouble, you need to take the steps to get the process started as soon as possible.

When Kari Zeller's husband lost his job about a year ago his company insurance coverage went with it.

She signed her kids up for Hoosier Healthwise to get them covered.

“I've had it on the kids, but because I was in a bracket that I wasn't old enough or I was too old… that's why I kept waiting for my husband's job for his situation to get better so that I would get insurance,” Zeller said.

Local health officials say that's the last thing you should do.

“In their mind they’re thinking, OK, well I can’t afford to go to the doctor so I will wait and go to the emergency room if it gets too bad. Well by waiting you’ve increased you’re costs and you've probably increased your need for medical care,” said Andre Waddell with St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

“You know, you have to weigh that risk of ‘do I not get health insurance for my kids and myself?’ The cost of health care right now is astronomical and can lead to bankruptcy issues if you can't pay your medical bills, so we encourage people to look at all the options there are,” said Sondra Gardetto with Covering Kids & Families of Indiana.

As the Zellers pack up for a weekend get-away, they can do so with a clearer mind.

Luckily for Kari, after a year without insurance, a friend at church told her about the Healthy Indiana Plan.

She applied in June, and qualified.

“I wouldn’t have been bale to do it, it’s a great program,” Zeller said.

It would have been quite the challenge, because just last week she found out she has multiple sclerosis

“I can know that I’m not necessarily going to get better, but at least I’ll be able to manage what I have. Otherwise it would have just been uncontrolled and it would have just gotten worse,” Zeller said.

What programs you'll be eligible for are based on your family size and your income, and most local hospitals and clinics can help you find what help is out there.

There are a number of useful links at the bottom of this page; to find national programs to help with co-pays and see what help is available here locally. You can also find your nearest Hoosier Healthwise enrollment center.

Meantime, Waddell says the program Zeller signed up for, the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), is currently capped for people without children. He says contacting the Volunteer Provider Network (VPN) is the best option to find help locally.

Meantime, for children and pregnant women, the Hoosier Healthwise program offers free or low-cost coverage through the state of Indiana, based on the family income level. In fact, health officials say pregnant women are presumed eligible for the plan even before looking at finances; and their prenatal care in that time while the paperwork is processing will be covered.

The income guidelines are actually relatively high; at 250% of the poverty level, a family of four that makes $55,000 a year would still be eligible for some of their policies.

You can visit an enrollment center at many area clinics or hospitals to see if your family might qualify.

There are also many sliding scale clinics in our area, which hospital officials say have been very busy over the past year, with the need only growing.

Just recently, Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center recently teamed up to open a new clinic at 1010 Bendix Avenue to try to help meet some of the rising need and encourage people to seek out help in an underserved area.

“We're encouraging people to come in. It’s not like its some kind of low class clinic, it’s a regular clinic. The point is the two hospitals are joining together trying to help people,” said Dr. Linus Ngante, one of the two full-time physicians at the clinic.

Meantime, some people still don't know about the help they could get from the stimulus package

As many people in our area have been finding, out when you get laid off from your job, you can sign up for a program called COBRA.

By paying a premium yourself, COBRA basically extends the health care coverage you had before you lost your job.

As part of the stimulus plan, you can get a government subsidy to pay for 65% of your COBRA bill for as many as 9 months.

That's if you've been laid off between September 2008 and December 2009.

Your former employer is supposed to contact you about the subsidy, but it's only been in place since March.

So, if you're paying for COBRA without the subsidy or decided not to enroll because of the cost, it may be a good idea to check back in with your former company and get the paperwork you'd need.

"Most employers do a good job, but I’ve seen paperwork where employers have not notified the individual of the COBRA premium assistance… That can actually stretch out their COBRA premiums. If they could only afford just a couple of months, maybe they can afford some additional months with that assistance," Waddell said.

HELPFUL LINKS:

This website details the Hoosier Healthwise program (or call 1-800-889-9949): http://www.healthcareforhoosiers.com/index.html

Follow this link to find the Hoosier Healthwise enrollment center nearest you: http://www.in.gov/fssa/ompp/3030.htm

The Volunteer Provider Network is a team of physicians and hospitals who help provide seamless health care for low-income, medically uninsured individuals of St. Joseph County: http://vpn.chpsb.org/index.html
(574) 968-4321

This .pdf can show you some of the low-cost primary care options and clinics nearest you if you live in Michigan: http://www.mpca.net/files/2009%20Directory/2009%20directory%20for%20web.pdf

For more information in the COBRA subsidy: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html

These nationwide organizations may also be able to help you with co-pay, medications, and other expenses based on your specific diagnosis:

HealthWell Foundation: http://www.healthwellfoundation.org/index.aspx
1-800-675-8416

CancerCare: http://cancercarecopay.org/
1-866-552-6729

Caring Voices: http://caringvoice.org/
1-888-267-1440

Chronic Disease Fund: http://cdfund.org/
1-877-968-7233

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: http://leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls
1-877-557-2672

National Organization for Rare Disorders: http://rarediseases.org/
1-800-999-6673 (voicemail only)

Patient Services Incorporated: http://www.uneedpsi.org/cms400min/index.aspx
1-800-366-7741

Patient Advocate Foundation: http://patientadvocate.org/
1-866-512-3861

Patient Access Network Foundation: http://www.panfoundation.org/
1-866-316-7263

Partnership for Prescription Assistance: https://www.pparx.org/
1-888-477-2669