Sandra Ward once received Wishard Advantage, a managed care program providing high quality, seamless medical care to low-income and uninsured residents of Indianapolis, but after moving to Hendricks County, her options changed.
She knew she needed to have preventive health care services, such as a mammogram, and took the advice of her friend and called the Little Red Door Cancer Agency to find help.
“When I called Little Red Door to get the number (to health care resources), they asked me if I had insurance. I said no and they explained to me that all Americans must have insurance,” said Ward.
Soon after, she went to the Little Red Door office and was signed up for health care insurance.
“Without their help, I wouldn’t have been able to get everything done,” said Ward. “I worked for years and always had health insurance. Some things happened in my life where I no longer had insurance. It feels good to be able to show my insurance card for services at the doctor or for medication. I’m thankful for the (mandatory) insurance.”
Many know of the Little Red Door Cancer Agency as a place that reduces the physical, emotional, and financial burdens of cancer for medically underserved residents of Central Indiana. They have furthered their mission by adding a resource center to their office where they are enrolling people in health care exchanges per the mandates of the federal government’s Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare.
“Our focus has always been on a low income population, the uninsured and the underinsured. So when you’re already challenged financially, a cancer diagnosis can really throw a wrench in things. Knowing that that’s our population, we’ve really been paying attention as health care reform has rolled out and looked at how can our clients benefit from the new laws,” said Tanya Shelburne, vice president of program development at Little Red Door.
Shelburne said staff educated themselves about the marketplace and the opportunities for individuals to be able to access affordable health care. Six staff members became certified as Indiana Marketplace Navigators to work one-on-one with clients and help them understand their health insurance options.
No appointment is necessary and those interested in seeking this service should bring Social Security numbers for everyone applying for coverage and income information for all members of the household in the form of a W-9, pay stubs or tax returns.
Clients don’t have to have cancer in order to use the resource center. They are also encouraged to take advantage of the service due to open enrollment closing at the end of March.
“We know that having health insurance is the first big step to getting access to good health care. And we want people long before they are diagnosed to be getting the health care they need,” said Shelburne.
Other Little Red Door Cancer Agency services include cancer prevention, screenings and support services for those who have been diagnosed with cancer.
“Transportation is one of our biggest programs to get patients back and forth to treatment, we provide nutritional supplements, medical supplies, we have a boutique here in our facility where we fit women for wigs as well as bras and breast forms for those who’ve had a mastectomy and we offer a camp for children with cancer,” added Shelburne.
Little Red Door Cancer Agency offers help for all types of cancers.
For more information on the Little Red Door Cancer Agency, call (317) 925-5595 or visit littlereddoor.org. For more information on the Affordable Care Act or Health Care exchanges, visit healthcare.gov; marketplace.cms.gov; or localhelp.healthcare.gov.
