Those Forms Make No Sense

For years, Kim Hart went to the emergency room instead of her doctor’s office. Despite being insured, she called 911 instead of making an appointment at the hospital.

Then one day Hart had a revelation: She was costing the state a lot of unnecessary money. So she stopped.

“We use the emergency rooms for non-emergencies,” to get faster care, Hart said. If people choose to see their regular doctors instead, the state might have more money to spend elsewhere, she added. 

Hart was joined by New Haven parents and community leaders who voiced their frustrations with the health care system at an open forum held Tuesday night at the Wilson Branch Library. It was organized by ​“The Listening Project,” a partnership between the Connecticut Health Foundation and Christian Community Action.

Attendees described the process of getting health care as dysfunctional and complex.

“You shouldn’t have to be heroic to get care,” foundation President and CEO Patricia Baker said. ​“The system should be responsible.”

Some 96 percent of Connecticut people do have access to health care, according to the foundation, but they encounter lots of problems.

Lisa McKnight, who has worked in health care for over 20 years, said recipients are customers, and thus have responsibilities. 

“When you are a consumer you need to inform yourself sometimes,” she said, calling on people to be more patient on the phone and to switch providers if they are dissatisfied with their current ones. 

Other speakers said waiting on the phone or in line at the doctor’s office can take too long, which leads people to head to the emergency room instead. 

Ingred Sanchez said her doctor is regularly over-booked and cannot treat her when she needs it. Her doctor’s office mails her many forms that are hard to understand and impossible to fill out, she said. Sometimes, she said, it is hard for her to tell whether she is even insured at all.

Sada Marshall, a mother of five, said health care providers should provide information clearly in places where parents spend the most time: in schools, in grocery stores, and even in emergency rooms while patients wait for care.

“What good is it to have an insurance card if you don’t know how to use it?” said Tiffany Donelson, a foundation vice-president. Baker called health care literacy and community organizing steps toward improving coverage.

Elizabeth Krause, the foundation’s vice president of policy and communication, moderated the conversation. ​“What is the system’s duty or responsibility to remove barriers?” she asked. ​“How do you know as a patient that you’re getting quality care?”

The concerns of the public will guide future research into improving health care coverage and inform policies, said Baker.

“We don’t have the resources to help everybody in Connecticut,” she said. ​“We’re here to set context only so that we can listen to you, to hear your ideas and solutions that can help us.”

The Connecticut Health Foundation, founded in 1999, promotes health care equity and ease of access for underserved healthcare recipients. It conducts public policy research, and has given out around $54 million in grants.

“[The Affordable Care Act] is the biggest systems change our country’s seen since Medicare, but we recognize that it’s only as good as how it’s implemented,” Baker said.

Baker said much work remains to improve the quality of health care coverage. Of the uninsured, 65 percent are people of color, and 40 percent of people who did have coverage have not visited a doctor in one year, according to the foundation.