El Rio Health: reopening of Affordable Care Act offers care for uninsured Tucsonans

TUCSON (KVOA) – El Rio Health currently serves over 113,000 patients in Tucson and the surrounding communities. A large number of those patients fall at or below the federal poverty level, El Rio Health said. With the reopening of the Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment, El Rio said it is on a mission to help patients and members of the community navigate and qualify for healthcare coverage. El Rio Health’s Health Insurance and Community Resources Department is currently assisting those who may not have internet access or need help with completing enrollment on the Healthcare.gov website, it said.

Last year, El Rio’s Health Insurance and Community Resources Department assisted over 23,000 people with Enrollment, Medicare Cost Sharing, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and El Rio’s Sliding Fee Scale program, it said. El Rio Health’s Sliding Fee Scale program it said offers discounts to make care affordable, both for those with and without health insurance. For those with health insurance that have high deductibles, co-insurances or co-payments but with an income below a certain amount, El Rio’s sliding fee discount can reduce the cost of care. For those with health insurance and incomes below the income guidelines, El Rio’s fees can also be discounted, it said.