AccessEscambia

AccessEscambia Inc. refers to the name of a non-profit (501c4) organization that was established in 2003 to implement the recommendations of the Escambia County Health Care Task Force. The Task Force had been established in 2001 to consider the problems caused by the number of residents in Escambia County without health insurance, and to make recommendations for providing health care to this population.

The three primary recommendations AccessEscambia was charged with implementing were: 1) coordinate the care provided to the uninsured who enter the health care system through the emergency rooms or clinics; 2) establish a low cost insurance plan based on Health Flex legislation that exempted providers from many of the state-mandated coverages; and 3)to establish a system of primary health care delivery that would be funded by a half-cent sales tax increase.

Since its inception in 2003, AccessEscambia has secured $1.5 million in grant funding and implemented the landmark coordinated care program in June 2007.

In 2004, AccessEscambia sought voter approval for a half-cent increase in the sales tax in November of 2004, but the effort failed at the ballot by a margin of 14,000 votes. However, the problem of the uninsured continued to grow worse. In 2004, there were approximately 54,000 people (one in six residents) with no health insurance. By 2007, that number had risen to 66,000 or one of every five residents.

In February of 2007, AccessEscambia's board of directors approved an effort to place the measure on the ballot in June of 2007. If approved, the measure will provide primary health care for up to 30,000 low-income, working residents in Escambia County.