When Iowa Legal Aid’s Health and Law Project was conceived several years ago, the authors had several goals in mind:
- Improve the lives of low-income Iowans by addressing the underlying legal problems that are affecting their health status.
- Establish cooperative working relationships through training and joint intake and case identification between medical personnel and social workers working with health care providers, and lawyers working in Iowa Legal Aid regional offices.
- Reduce health care costs over the long-term by addressing the underlying legal problems of low-income Iowans that are causing them to seek medical care.