February
08-17-2009, 06:52 PM
GOSHEN, Ind.—
At age 15, with a baby due in October, Stephany Celis already has racked up more than $400 in medical bills for prenatal care at the Maple City Health Care Center.
Even with a steep discount on the clinic’s sliding scale for fees, the debt threatened to swamp the fragile finances of the uninsured Goshen High School student and her family, who struggle to get by on her father’s wages from a local scrap yard.
And it’s a bill that might have remained unpaid – along with the others that will follow — if not for an innovative program that allows cash-strapped patients to swap skills and services to reduce what they owe.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32420772/ns/us_news-the_elkhart_project?GT1=43001
At age 15, with a baby due in October, Stephany Celis already has racked up more than $400 in medical bills for prenatal care at the Maple City Health Care Center.
Even with a steep discount on the clinic’s sliding scale for fees, the debt threatened to swamp the fragile finances of the uninsured Goshen High School student and her family, who struggle to get by on her father’s wages from a local scrap yard.
And it’s a bill that might have remained unpaid – along with the others that will follow — if not for an innovative program that allows cash-strapped patients to swap skills and services to reduce what they owe.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32420772/ns/us_news-the_elkhart_project?GT1=43001