Nobody disputes that preventive health care is the most cost effective. If all Americans were insured, they could afford to get care early enough to avoid serious problems that demand high-cost emergency room treatment. Health-care costs in the United States would drop dramatically. The debate over universal insurance is, of course, highly contentious and centered on who will pay the bills, but when people who are eligible for current insurance programs go without, nobody wins.

That’s where the Health Improvement Partnership comes in. The Spokane-based organization helps low-income people get insurance via its Health For All program. Many people simply aren’t aware of their options and assume that they are blocked from health care. Health For All has helped more than 48,000 uninsured or underinsured people over the past six years, and yet 53 percent of uninsured Spokane County residents up to age 64 are eligible for state-sponsored health care but are not enrolled.

The enrollment process for the state’s Basic Health Plan or Medicaid can be daunting, so Health For All walks potential clients through the eligibility process and the paperwork. Its staffers also help government workers understand the ever-changing rules. For instance, Health For All spotted a training error at the Department of Social and Health Services that was causing families to get bumped from Medicaid.

Help goes beyond those two government-funded insurance programs. There are community health centers that provide care on a sliding fee scale. Project Access has a wide range of health-care providers who donate their services. And Columbia Primary Care has low-cost primary care services.

The beneficiaries of Health For All aren’t just uninsured or underinsured people. HIP claims that every dollar spent on the program saves hospitals $4, because they must treat people whether they can pay or not. Clinics and other health-care facilities also benefit. So do employers, because their employees miss less work when they are insured.

The beauty of HIP is that it takes almost no money from Eastern Washington, and thus doesn’t compete with other regional organizations. Most of its money comes from federal grants or private funding sources.

HIP will change its name on June 21 to Community-Minded Enterprises, but fortunately its mission will remain the same. And while Health For All is probably its most visible program, the organization is involved in many other efforts, such as youth employment and services for the disabled.

The organization hopes the name change will trigger greater recognition and open doors to more partnerships. We hope so, too, because it would make us a stronger, healthier community.