Book Description

This paper tells the story of the origin, development, birth, and evolution of Access Health, in Muskegon, MI. Access Health is generally regarded as a successful community-based approach to expanding health care coverage to uninsured workers at small firms. While the program is located in a fairly typical Midwestern community with a faltering economy and a population with worse-than-average health outcomes, it was the stimulus for proposed legislation to federally fund related programs in all 50 states. Access Health is known as a "three-share plan": Employers and employees each pay 30 percent of the cost of the program, and the community pays the remainder.