Eligibility for St. Joseph Health Care TrustPotential clients must have an unmet health care need that is within St. Joseph Health Care Trust’s scope of services, including needs such as hearing aids, dental care, counseling, prescription assistance, medical goods, eyeglasses, and diagnostic tests.
- Potential clients must live within one of the twenty-eight counties served by the Fort Worth Diocese.
- All potential clients must have a household income at 300 percent of poverty level or below, and not have medical insurance that covers the health care service being requested.
- Individual circumstances can be considered when determining eligibility for services.
- If a potential client does have health care coverage, they must show that the medical need is not covered by their health care program and that the cost of the care would create an undue financial hardship for the individual or family.
- St. Joseph Health Care Trust does not restrict services in regard to religious affi liation, race, ethnicity, gender, or disability.
Potential clients must provide the following documents in order for eligibility to be determined:
- Picture ID (Exceptions to this policy are allowed).
- Last two paycheck stubs for income verification or award letters from food stamps, TANF, or the Social Security Administration on all household members receiving an income. Income must be at or below 300 percent of federal poverty level (for guidelines, check www.povertyguidelines.org).
- Address Verifi cation (e.g., lease, utility bill, property tax document).
- If the potential client has medical insurance they must submit proof that their medical insurance policy will not cover the requested health care service. The scope of service that St Joseph’s Health Care Trust provides excludes certain services that would be contrary to Catholic social and moral teaching, which specifi cally includes services such as abortions, artificial contraception, tubal ligations, and vasectomies. Potential clients are informed of eligibility/ineligibility within 48 hours of applying for services. To check eligibility or for more information, call the St. Joseph Health Care Trust offi ce at Catholic Charities at (817) 920-7733 or 1-888-757-9647.
St. Joseph Health Care Trust Expands Services Across Diocese
By Nicki Prevou, Editorial Assistant
North Texas Catholic - December 18, 2009
The woman who recently approached Catholic Charities staff member Jackie Gordon had a heartbreaking story, Gordon recalled. The single mother of a young child had been the victim of a house fire, and was burned over most of her body. She had spent long months away from her daughter during her hospitalization, and was struggling to regain a normal appearance and a productive life.
“One ear had been totally destroyed,” said Gordon, a community health facilitator for St. Joseph Health Care Trust, a fund administered by Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Fort Worth. “Although she was able to get Medicaid assistance in paying for her surgeries, and even for the prosthesis for her ear, this client had no way of paying for the magnets that were needed to attach the prosthetic ear to the side of her face.”
Because the total cost of the necessary devices was less than $1,000, St. Joseph Health Care Trust was able to pay for the magnets, thus helping to ease the trauma of a stressful situation, Gordon explained. “That’s what the trust is for,” she added. “Not only were we able to meet the immediate need, but we also offered counseling for the little girl and for the mom. The mother knew that we really cared about her and her family.”
The health care trust, established after St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Worth closed in 1995, has a simple, yet profoundly important mission, according to Lori Kennedy, who serves as the trust’s program coordinator for Catholic Charities.
“The trust exists in order to promote a healthier community by increasing access to care and in increasing opportunities for health education,” said Kennedy.
“We serve the community by offering information and preventive care, and by making sure that the uninsured — or those who are underinsured — can find a medical home for ongoing care.”
The trust has traditionally served several “partner” parish communities within Tarrant County, explained Kennedy, “communities with lower income levels and, traditionally, those neighborhoods with greater needs. We’ve had great success in offering health education and primary care services within those neighborhoods, but we’re now at this very exciting point where the members of the trust’s board have determined that the trust’s scope can be expanded. The trust is now able to offer services, not just within those partner parish communities in the Fort Worth area, but also within all 28 counties of the Diocese of Fort Worth. That is truly a tremendous breakthrough.”
The expanded outreach of the trust is indeed an event that honors the legacy of the original healthcare providers of North Texas, agreed Peter Flynn, director of the Finance and Administrative Services for the Diocese of Fort Worth and the executive director of the Catholic Foundation of North Texas. “The trust, funded by generous benefactors many years ago, was always intended to support the work of St. Joseph Hospital in Tarrant County and the surrounding area,” explained Flynn. “There is an incredible history of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word coming to Texas, as healthcare professionals, establishing hospitals, [and] working to serve the most basic needs within the communities. By reaching out to those in need in every corner of our diocese,” he said, “we honor the commitment, the vision, and the hard work of those extraordinary women.”
In the meantime, eligible individuals living in Tarrant, Denton, Wise, Jack, Cooke, Wichita, Clay, Montague, Archer, Baylor, Wilbarger, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Bosque, Hill, Johnson, Hood, Somervell, Erath, Comanche, Palo Pinto, Parker, Eastland, Stephens, Throckmorton, and Schackelford counties are now able to receive services from the trust, including counseling, diagnostic mammograms and other tests, vision exams, dental care, and assistance with prescriptions and with hearing aids.
“There are so many people out in the communities who have lost their jobs, and have lost hope, because of the economy,” said Kennedy. “Our job is not only to give help, but to share hope, as well. Some agencies are not able to provide personal care and individual attention. There are many services we can’t provide — for example, we can’t afford services dealing with hospitalizations or surgery — but do offer help with primary care services, and we offer individual attention and personal assistance, as well.”
Yet another new development is the health trust’s ability to offer a new prescription discount card to all eligible clients, added Kennedy. “This card will allow clients to go to most pharmacies and to receive a significant discount.” The uninsured, she said, can use the card and receive a discount of from 10 to 40 percent on their prescriptions.
For more information about the trust and available services, call Catholic Charities at (817) 920-7733.
Residents of the Northwest deanery may contact Catholic Charities staff member Stella Centeno at her office at Holy Family Church in Vernon, at (940) 552-0347.
© North Texas Catholic - December 18, 2009