1,030 organizations
How health care works in Atlanta when you're uninsured
You can see a doctor in Atlanta without insurance and without papers. Grady is the big public hospital — its ER never turns anyone away, but for everything that isn't an emergency you'll wait less and pay less at a community clinic. Clinics like Mercy Care and the Good Samaritan Health Center, and the county's federally qualified health centers, charge on a sliding scale: you pay based on what you earn, sometimes a few dollars, sometimes nothing.
Bring an ID and proof of income if you have them — but don't stay home because you don't. Ask the clinic what they need; most will see you anyway and sort out paperwork later.
What to expect when you call: expect a question about your zip code (some clinics serve certain areas), whether you've been there before, and the first open appointment. Ask about same-day or walk-in hours — many keep slots.
Recovery Consultants of Atlanta (RCA) is a nonprofit community health center in Decatur that treats drug and alcohol addiction and helps people in recovery. They also offer regular doctor visits, mental health counseling, HIV testing and prevention, and a mobile medical unit. Care is offered to everyone, including people who are uninsured or low-income.
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Friends of Refugees is a Clarkston nonprofit (founded 1995) that helps refugees and immigrants build new lives after government resettlement help ends. They offer English and literacy classes, job and small-business training, healthy-food and gardening programs, and maternal health support. Their Embrace Refugee Birth program gives pregnant women free childbirth classes, doula support during labor and after birth, breastfeeding help, and help navigating doctors and hospitals.
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CHAMPVA (the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs) is a federal health insurance program run by the VA's Office of Community Care. It helps pay the cost of doctor visits, hospital care, medicine, and other medical services for the spouses, children, and surviving family members of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled or who died from a service-connected condition. It is a national mail- and phone-based program, not a local Atlanta office, but Atlanta-area families can apply and use the benefits with local providers.
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