HealthAssist Uninsured Network
Eastern North Carolina (ENC) can be a tough place for many people to get the basic healthcare they need.
North Carolina itself ranks near this country’s lowest for healthcare coverage; greater than 11 percent of our citizens have no public or private health insurance, including Medicaid or Medicare. That’s a full 2 percent behind the national average.
ENC’s own number of uninsured residents is, however, even higher than the state average, since our large, and largely rural, region has always faced greater poverty, and less access to care and support resources, than much of the rest of North Carolina.
All of that adds up to a lot of our neighbors struggling to get the basic healthcare and social services they need, and so often failing to do so. That’s not only terrible for them, but also for all of ENC as well.
* According to 2019 census data published through America’s Health Rankings, the nation’s longest-running compiler of comparative health data by state
We Want to Help
Access East’s HealthAssist Uninsured Network can help bridge some of this troubling healthcare gap, providing or coordinating basic care for people who otherwise might have to go without. Our two principal programs, HealthAssist and the Affordable Care Act Navigators, both linked below, include either direct care and certain other crucial health or social services, or assistance in finding and selecting affordable health insurance for people who are without.
We rely upon an exceptional team of locally based, community-minded social workers, medication assistants, health-insurance Navigators, community coordinators and support staff that you can “meet,” individually, here.
Medicaid/Medicare
Though we are not part of either Medicaid or Medicare, our staff members are trained to provide assistance with both government programs.
Medicaid
Following Medicaid Expansion in N.C. in December 2023, HealthAssist Uninsured Network staff have been trained to help enroll North Carolinians in this program for low-income people and families.
Medicare
We have staff trained as counselors for SHIIP (the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, part of the N.C. Department of Insurance), to help with questions on Medicare, Medicare Part D, Medicare supplements, Medicare Advantage and other long-term-care insurance for those ages 65 and older.
HealthAssist
Our nonprofit program helping to meet the medical needs of qualifying uninsured and underinsured residents of Beaufort, Edgecombe, Greene, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties. We provide care-management assistance in making good personal medical decisions and finding appropriate and accessible medical help, including not just treatment for current health conditions but some preventative services as well.
In addition, HealthAssist coordinates several free Pitt County-based health clinics, and helps its patients with qualifying prescription medicines and some essential medical supplies, such as diabetes-treatment items.
HealthAssist is not insurance and not part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); we collect no premiums or payments. We rely on a network of community partnerships to provide all services.
ACA Navigators
Provides free assistance to people seeking affordable health-coverage through North Carolina’s federally funded Healthcare Insurance Marketplace. Our Navigators are fully grant-funded.
We receive no commissions for helping with enrollments, no matter what insurance plan is chosen.
Crucial to our ACA Navigators program is its own Farmworker Program, which works not only to help enroll members of the ENC H-2A (temporary-visa) farmworker community in low-cost insurance, but also to direct them to available community healthcare options, and to provide emergency medical training like basic wound care and CPR.