Ingham County Health Dept comes to LCC

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

With numerous changes coming to health providers and recipients alike due to legislative action from Congress, many students are unsure of what their medical care will look like in the future. However, there are resources at LCC that are available for students to help combat with these changes.

The Ingham County Health Department has made its way to LCC. The Adult Resource Center is hosting sessions providing students with options to get help with different healthcare services. There are no appointments required, allowing you to be able to get help on the spot without having to sign up prior. The team is trained in providing services for anyone of all races, genders, sexual orientations, countries of origin, documentation status, physical and mental abilities, and other forms of difference.

The Ingham County Health Department provides many different services such as: free preventive care which is healthcare that provides measures aimed at preventing diseases and maintaining health. The service also allows blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol screening at their Community Health Centers. Community Health Workers also that help with, healthy food access, transportation, home utilities, employment, mental or behavioral health, housing insecurity conditions, access to health care through the Sliding Fee Discount Program, COVID-19 testing, Medicaid, MI Bridges, Healthy Michigan Plans and referrals for Healthcare Providers.

The Sliding Free Discount Program is a program that provides a healthcare discount for those uninsured, underinsured, or have health insurance with deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments. To qualify for the healthcare discount, students have to provide status of their income in order to apply.

The second program offered is the Healthy Michigan Plans which is a program that covers the federal healthcare law essential health benefits, as well as other services and benefits. Which provides healthcare at a low cost for Michigan residents.

Thirdly, the MI Bridges program is also available for sign up at the pop up on campus. The MI Bridges program helps to provide people with many different things such as child care, healthcare coverage, cash assistance, food assistance and much more.

Lastly, is help with Medicaid on campus. The status of Medicaid is currently unknown according to Sarali Martinez, a Health Care Navigator for the Health and Resource Navigation team at the Ingham County Health Department, “We are still unsure about the New Cuts coming to effect Medicaid, we are hearing that the cuts won’t be effect until mid-2026,” Martinez said.

Martinez also talked about how important it is to have these resources on campus, “The importance of having Community Resources on Campus, is to help full/part time students receive their essential needs, food pantries, shelters, support for students struggling to meet basic needs,” Martinez said. “It also helps to improve health and well-being by using educational programs that can improve physical and mental health outcomes by building social connections with students.”

She also states that there are many reasons that students may need this resource on campus, “The importance of having Community Resources on Campus, is that we all know that being a full/part time student can be extremely busy and stressful,” Martinez said. “So having these educational programs can improve physical and mental health outcomes and building social connections with students; creating opportunities that might be unfamiliar to them. For some students there may be many reasons they need Community Resources. They might be miles and miles away from home and don’t know how to navigate for basic needs. Some might have issues understanding and having one on one person on campus might make the experience easier I believe.” The specific times that the health department is available on campus in the Adult Resource Center is: Oct 15 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct.29 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 12 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Dec. 3 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.