Affordable Healthcare: The Johnson Health Center in Lynchburg, Virginia

The people at Johnson Health Center are friendly and really seem to want to help you. I became a patient at Johnson Health Center after the Free Clinic no longer wanted to see me. In speaking with some of the staff, I quickly discovered that I wasn't the only patient who had come there after being a long time patient of the Free Clinic.

Johnson Health Center has four levels of self-pay plans that are based on the patient's household income. They used to be very reasonable in their prices, but then they raised their rates a couple months ago. Now, the odds are pretty good that you're going to pay more for a visit than what your portion of the payment would be if you had insurance. If you don't work, this might be a hardship compared to what it used to be. However, it's better than nothing for the uninsured. Johnson Health Center is also the only place around that doesn't accept only a limited number of patients with Medicaid.

Johnson Health Center also has a new rule to go with their new prices. They only allow you to have one complaint per visit. Considering that most uninsured people (especially the elderly) have many complaints and some serious conditions such as high blood pressure, this rule could be a problem. All of those separate visit costs could get out of hand very quickly.

Similar to the Free Clinic, Johnson Health Center also does referrals to other places if you need one. However, it can take a few weeks to get a referral. This can be a problem if someone has an immediate need such as an eye exam. The delay isn't from the place the patient is referred to. The delay comes from Johnson Health Center taking their time to fax over the paperwork. When Johnson Health Center does a referral, the price to be seen at the place will be less than if you simply made the appointment yourself. However, the amount of money saved may not be that much. For example, if a plan B patient goes to Johnson Health Center only for an eye exam referral, between their $40 fee and the $40 reduced fee for the eye exam, that's only about $20 less than what a returning patient would pay for an eye exam.