Help find low-cost health care in Southern California

July 20, 2006 7:31 PM

Please help my Mother-in-law get low-cost medical care in southern California.

I just found out the my MIL has a lump in her breast. She's known about it for a while. She and her husband are poor and she doesn't have insurance. I believe she is under 65 (I know that she lies about her age so I'm not absolutely sure), so I can't depend on Medicare, but probably MedicAid. Also, I don't know how to tell her to go about getting diagnosis and treatment. Some kind of clinic? Emergency room? She is in Murrieta, which is between Los Angeles and San Diego. Anyone know the best way to get her the help she needs?

posted by kamikazegopher to health & fitness (5 comments total)

"The California Department of Health Services implemented the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP) on January 1, 2002. Under this new program, low-income California residents who have breast and/or cervical cancer can enroll at a doctor’s office to get no-cost cancer treatment coverage as soon as possible after they have been diagnosed.

For more information about the BCCTP and how to enroll, please call (Toll-Free) 1-(800)-824-0088."

See: http://www.dhs.ca.gov/mcs/WomensHealth/BCCTP.htm
posted by PandemicSoul at 7:44 PM on July 20, 2006

She can also contact these folks and inquire about the Medical Indigent Services Program. If you are poor and without medical insurance, Inland SoCal isn't a bad place to be.
posted by buggzzee23 at 7:49 PM on July 20, 2006

I meant to include this blurb for the link above:
Riverside County Regional Medical Center
Riverside County Regional Medical Center is committed to the health and well-being of all those we serve, regardless of their ability to pay, and without discrimination. We accomplish this through: efficient and comprehensive delivery of quality health care to our patients; continuous improvement in the quality of the care and service we provide; education and training of physicians and other health care professions to ensure the future availability of comprehensive health services for our patients; and development of programs and services which specifically target the unmet needs of indigent patients, or for which access may be limited to a broad segment of the community.
26520 Cactus
Moreno Valley, CA 92555
[phone]
posted by buggzzee23 at 7:55 PM on July 20, 2006

There's a searchable database of clinics that cater to low-income/uninsured people at http://ask.hrsa.gov/pc/

There's also the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (free or low-cost mammograms).
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:44 PM on July 20, 2006

Thanks so much for all of your help. She is getting a biopsy on Tuesday.
posted by kamikazegopher at 8:37 AM on August 12, 2006