Local County Health Clinic

It's only for people who need it and qualify, and even if it wasn't, TRUST ME, you wouldn't want to go there. The $30-45 co pay is more than worth avoiding facilities like that.
(and I say that as someone who grew up visiting those places...<shudder>)

well- you could figure that if it's only to save a small copay, it'd be nice of you to avoid the clinics given they usually are really overloaded with people who don't have any other choice. I'd feel like I was taking advantage going to one when I have insurance just to save 40 bucks. I'm going to make the single, unemployed mother wait even longer? Sorry. I'm sure people will disagree with me but doesn't seem worth it or right to me. There are only so many resources for these free clinics to operate. I wouldn't take advantage unless I needed to.

i agree with pam unless your going to the local health department to get vaccines or tb tests or other information about programs like WIC etc.
there are probably some immediate care facilities in your area that may be logical for you to go to if you need a dr right now but don't want to pay an outrageous ER fee (and your drs office is closed)

also the ones where i live pro rate your services based on your income and if you make enough you will get charged the full price (making it cheeper to just pay a co-pay)
i found the ones in my area by googling them. and from my mil who works at a local hospital and volunteered for a free clinic

One downside to using a "free" clinic is that the wait can be long. When I was little we didn't have health insurance and we went to the clinic. My aunt worked there so she would make sure we had appointments but we still had to get there before it opened and wait. Maybe it is not as bad today. We have a town clinic where I live and can make an appt for a well woman visit, child immunizations, pregnancy tests I believe. I think it is pretty much what a nurse can do versus a full MD. Some services are free but others are based on income.

Under the Care Act you are not supposed to be charged even co-pay for certain services such as well visits or immunizations.

We have what's called visiting nurses. It's a clinic. It's on a sliding scale. If you have insurance they will bill that. You will still have a co pay but it is sometimes less than at a drs office.

Those are really for those uninsured you have insurance. $35 is a small price to pay.

The clinic we have here is only free if you qualify, but they also take insurance and co-pays are on a sliding scale. You can try calling your local health and human services department to find clinics in your area, and then you can call the clinics to inquire about co-pays, insurance, etc. That way you know if you are actually impacting resources or not.

free clinics are awesome if you need them. i used them a LOT during my broke years when i was living on my own and had no insurance and little money. but even then they charged on a sliding scale, so sometimes i had to pay a little.
honestly, if you've got insurance, just go to a doctor. with the current health care crisis (mitigated slightly but not fixed by the ACA), the 'free' resources are overrun by folks who need 'em desperately.
khairete
S.

The local health department offers many classes for the community free of charge. They have nutrition programs, evaluation staff that can do things like screening for sensory issues and even ADHD. They're not medical staff but they can do some simple screening and give you some good ideas to try. They do pregnancy testing, give flu shots and kids vaccines, they do stop smoking clinics, they do VD testing, birth control, and they'll even help families who need new car seats when they have funds.

Some of the programs are income based but they are not for extremely poor people only. The income qualifications are higher than most of the state assistance programs.

WIC is a program that gives food to pregnant women and formula to infants. That program is based on income but it's not for really really poor people only. The income qualifications for WIC are not the same as food stamps or welfare. They are high enough that working families can have WIC too.

Overall the county health department is an underused resource for many people and especially women.

Free clinics would be something else entirely. This is not a doctors office you go to for medical care. This is a center for people to go to for programs that would help them in rather short term endeavors.

All you need to do is find out what county you live in then google for that county health department. Then scroll through and see what programs they offer.

I've gone to many classes there. I took a nutrition class that was a couple of hours per week and lasted a month or so. We got a few things from local farmers markets so we could try new foods and got recipes that day to use those particular items.

The health department is not a medical office nor is it a low income only place.

Here is a link to all the health departments in OK. The statement they put on here is this.

"Each department offers a variety of services, such as immunizations, family planning, maternity education, well-baby clinics, adolescent health clinics, hearing & speech services, child developmental services, environmental health, and the SoonerStart program."

http://www.ok.gov/triton/modules/health/map/county_map.php