Advocates say NC’s rising uninsured increases need

RALEIGH — Supporters say North Carolina’s free health clinics are facing growing stresses as more people become unemployed and lose their health insurance coverage.

The group describing itself as the state’s safety net represents community health centers, free clinics, doctors and hospitals. They will visit the General Assembly on Wednesday to ask for $15 million a year in state funding.

They said North Carolina has as many as 1.8 million people uninsured, a number increasing with growing unemployment.

The clinics depend on volunteer physicians and free hospital services. But money is needed for workers to determine eligibility, refer patients to willing providers, and help pay for medications that aren’t covered by prescription assistance programs.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)