Ingham Health Plan is moving in late May to a newer facility within the same Zip code after being in the same location since its founding 17 years ago.
The health plan's new office at 3425 Belle Chase Way in South Lansing will provide the nonprofit company with 5,500-square feet to coordinate the program that provides access to low-cost healthcare for uninsured adults in Ingham County.
Ingham Health Plan was looking to reduce their operating expenses and upgrade their working environment by changing spaces. Working with
CRBE-Martin, the company secured a space similar in size at a lower rental rate, and in an office park setting off a busy road.
"It's newer, brighter, with lots of windows," says health plan CEO Robin Reynolds. "It's also has a more efficient layout for our operations."
Reynolds says keeping the office on the bus line and in the same general vicinity as the previous S. Cedar Street location was important since the largely administrative office sometimes gets an occasional walk-in. Customers, she says, are typically served through neighborhood centers or other suitable off-site locations.
Founded in 1998, the Ingham Health Plan has helped more than 70,000 low-income, uninsured residents. Reynolds says the plan covers about 50 percent of the county's adult uninsured at any given time. On average, the plan serves 12,000 people annually—roughly 15 percent of the county's adult population. In January, the health plan added a new dental program to serve individuals without dental care who meet specific low-income eligibility requirements.
"We're essentially a stop gap for people who are in between care," says Reynolds. "We're here so people don't have to stop taking their medicines and can keep up with the medical care."
Reynolds projects that the health plan will evolve in different directions in the coming year as more individuals access insurance through the health care exchange. She anticipates about 4,000 uninsured will continue to need the plan's benefits, and that the company's 12 staff will turn their focus toward helping individuals understand and use the medical system.
"Just because insurance is provided doesn't mean people know how to use it," she says. "It's all about medical literacy."
Source: Robin Reynolds, executive director, Ingham Health Plan
Writer: Ann Kammerer, News Editor
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