Improving access to healthcare

Staff from the Health Department’s Ambulatory Health Services (AHS) division work tirelessly to deliver first-class primary care services to Philadelphians. They also work to enroll patients and other community members in health insurance plans to ensure access to quality medical care from AHS, local hospitals and specialty care providers. 

To that end, AHS Benefits Counselors work with uninsured patients to assess their eligibility for Medical Assistance. Last year, Benefits Counselors met with 7,145 patients and were successful in getting 1,701 applications approved. 

In addition to Benefits Counselors housed at each of the City’s eight Health Center locations, AHS Outreach and Enrollment staff at Health Centers 10, 6 and 5 work with patients and other community members to connect them to all insurances in the marketplace through the State’s PENNIE system. Last year, these employees were successful in getting insurance benefits for 2,784 people. Of those, 1,222 people were City Health Center patients and 1,562 were other community members approved for marketplace insurance. These efforts improve access to health care for all people.