It’s often been said that almost everyone has a smartphone. Unfortunately, not everyone has the financial resources to use it.
One of the problems with the free government cell phone program is that its low-income customers can’t afford all the bells and whistles that could make the program even more helpful.
Assurance Wireless is doing something to solve that problem. It’s teaming up with Gold Mobile to offer a free two-way messaging that will link needy patients with Medicaid, medical providers, insurance carriers and health maintenance organizations.
According to Assurance and Gold Mobile, GoMo Chat Secure makes it simple for high-risk or recently discharged patients and medical professionals to send and receive one-way, two-way text chat and voice communications via any Assurance Wireless cell phone equipped with a web browser. And that browser is absolutely free.
If all goes as expected GoMo should improve medical care for low income Americans by giving them a secure way to transmit their medical personal data to Medicaid and their caregivers.
The folks at Gold Mobile are pretty excited about the possibilities. “This is a true game-changer for remote patient care and the healthcare industry,” said Alan Stern, the company’s Vice President of Healthcare Solutions.
Assurance is just as charged up as Gold. “Through our combined programs,” said David Avila, Business Development Manager for Assurance, “we can provide affordable, secure and socially conscious health and wellness communications for low-income member patients to improve their health and, ultimately, their quality of life.”
Assurance Wireless now provides free cell phones, 250 free voice minutes and 250 free text messages to needy residents in more than 40 states.
You can qualify for a free government cell phone if you already participate in another public aid program — such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA) or Section 8, Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) or the National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program. You can also qualify if your household income falls below the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
You might say that Assurance and Gold Mobile have just set the gold standard for free government cell phones.
Source: hminss (broken link)
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