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Written by: Harsha Kaul
Health care is expensive, especially for patients without insurance. Nearly 10% of Americans lack health insurance, making even routine checkups with a primary care physician impossible due to the cost.
Many physicians recognize this monetary problem and give their time and knowledge free of cost to uninsured patients. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to shadow an Internal Medicine physician, Dr. Yellapragada. Dr. Yellapragada holds a monthly free clinic in an area with a large population of uninsured people.
During visits with a physician, it is very common to receive a prescription for medications or medical tests. These medications and medical tests can be very expensive; sometimes they can cost more than the doctor’s visit itself. At Dr. Yellapragada’s free clinic, patients don’t have to pay for the physician’s time. However, paying for medications and medical tests is still the patient’s responsibility.
Happy Healthy Us decided to contribute $650 towards helping uninsured patients at Dr. Yellapragada’s free clinic cover these additional expenses. Over the past few months, this money has gone towards paying for blood pressure medications, anti-depressants, antibiotics, blood panels (thyroid tests, sugar levels, hormone balances, etc.), and urine tests.
The combined efforts of Dr. Yellapragada and his staff alongside our contribution have helped provide care to people that needed it most. We are very thankful to all of the people who donated this summer to support this initiative. Your support has had a positive impact on numerous peoples’ lives.