Ballad Health, App. School of Law, Virginia Tech creates a medical-legal partnership
Ballad Health has partnered with the Appalachian School of Law and Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business in the forming of a medical-legal partnership to provide those in need of legal assistance.
The three organizations have established the partnership which will combine health and legal services at a single site of care. A team of ASL students, faculty and lawyers representing Legal Aids in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee will work together in addressing medical, social, and legal problems that impact overall health.
“As a health system, we’re here not just to treat people when they need care, but also to help them improve their overall health in other ways, outside the clinical world,” said Ballad Health Chairman and CEO Alan Levine. “This is about helping people overcome the obstacles they might have in getting access to healthcare.
Virginia 1st District Del. Terry Kilgore, chairman of the Southwest Virginia Health Authority, was instrumental in getting state approval for the MLP.
“This partnership will be a great asset for our region,” he said. “The legal help people receive will make a huge impact on their health. I’m extremely appreciative of the Appalachian School of Law and Ballad Health for stepping up to create this service for our community.”
Medical-legal partnerships can provide the following:
*Assist patients in getting emergency financial relief available through unemployment benefits and the CARES Act and in avoiding housing evictions, which were suspended under federal and state laws
*Help eliminate barriers to patients obtaining lifesaving medications
*Assist patients who are disabled from work in obtaining disability benefits, including Medicare or Medicaid coverage
*Help patients appeal wrongful insurance coverage denials
*Help people with complex conditions avoid repeated trips to the emergency room by helping secure housing and affordable medicines
*Connect patients and families to critical resources that affect health, such as food banks, domestic violence shelters and suicide prevention assistance
*Help recover costs for hospitals, such as by challenging insurance coverage denials
The program is available and those interested in speaking with a representative about these free legal services can email (intake@asl.edu) or call the Appalachian School of Law (276-244-1289) and identify themselves as a Ballad Health patient or patient guardian or caregiver.
