New in Michigan: Free government cell phone company has special offer for Medicaid enrollees

Imagine the anguish when you’re too poor to afford a cell phone and it’s impossible to stay in touch with the medical professionals you desperately need.

Now there’s a solution for low-income Michigan residents.

Assurance Wireless, one of the nation’s largest free government cell phone companies, has teamed up in Michigan with OmniCare Health Plan. They’ve committed themselves to improving healthcare for the state’s low-income residents by making it easier for them to stay in contact with medical professionals.

This is great news for the 47,000 low income Michigan residents who are enrolled in OmniCare. Assurance Wireless is offering eligible individuals and families free cell phones and 250 free minutes of voice service each month.

OmniCare says that this offer will make it possible for its eligible members to avail themselves of preventive health care and to get better, more regular care from a wide range of medical professionals.

But it gets even better. OmniCare’s deal with Assurance allows its members to have unlimited access – that’s worthy of repetition, unlimited access — to their primary care physician’s office via their free government cell phone. In addition, voice calls and text messaging to OmniCare will be free and will not count against the customer’s 250 free monthly minutes.

But that’s just the beginning. Assurance Wireless customers not only get a free cell phone and 250 free wireless minutes ever month, they get voice mail, call waiting, caller ID and access to 911 in case of emergency. If a customer needs more than 250 free voice minutes per month, he or she can also buy additional minutes, texting, and international calling plans.

OmniCare Health Plan proudly serves underserved Michigan residents. They will begin a campaign to promote the Assurance free government cell phone as a simple, inexpensive way for its customers to stay in touch with their health care providers and other medical professionals.

“With this partnership, we can provide unlimited “free” calls to (our customer’s) primary care provider’s office and to our plan,” says Beverly Allen, OmniCare’s CEO. “This will eliminate one of the barriers our members experience in obtaining quality health care services.”

Rapidly-growing OmniCare currently has 47,000 members. It prides itself on offering programs for Medicaid and MI Child eligible customers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kalamazoo, Hillsdale, Cass and St. Joseph counties. It’s network includes 2,600 doctors, 37 hospitals and 47 urgent care centers.

Assurance Wireless currently does business in 31 states and Washington, DC and is rapidly expanding to other states. It is one of the major companies offering free government cell phones through the Lifeline Assistance program.

Who’s eligible for a free government cell phone and the new OmniCare program? Eligibility varies from one state to another, but you probably qualify if you already participate in another government assistance program, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA or Section 8), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or the National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program. You may also qualify if your household income does not exceed 135-150% of the federal government’s poverty guidelines.

This is great news for low income Michigan residents. Great news, indeed.

Learn more about all the free government cell phone providers in Michigan.

Source: Sys-con.com