The Kansas City Medical Society Foundation is the charitable arm of the Kansas City Medical Society. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we operate the Wy Jo Care and Metro Care charitable care programs that deliver over $8 million worth of donated specialty care to uninsured patients each year. In addition, we carry out programs addressing community health issues.

More than 1 in 10 residents of the five core counties of the Kansas City metropolitan area were uninsured in 2016 (Mid-America Regional Council Regional Health Care Assessment 2017). They are not covered by employer-sponsored insurance or individual policies, and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid or other public assistance.

Often, those without health insurance are working in one or more low-wage jobs without health benefits. They earn too much to qualify for government programs such as Medicaid, but not enough to afford health insurance and meet essential needs for food, clothing and housing.

A major need among the uninsured is for specialty care—such as orthopedics, cardiology, cancer care, dermatology and other fields outside of primary care. While the uninsured often can access primary care through community health centers that serve patients on a sliding scale, specialty care is harder to obtain.