Dear Savvy Senior

Where can a person turn to for low-cost medical, dental and eye carefi I'm 62 years old, recently uninsured and living on a tight budget.

Can't Wait for Medicare

Dear Can't

There are actually a wide range of programs and services that provide free or low-cost medical care to help those that are uninsured, underinsured or low income. Here's where to look.

Medical care

• Health centers: Federally-funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), there are thousands of health centers around the U.S. that provide low-cost health care to people based on financial need. You pay what you can afford, based on your income. Go to www.findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov or call 888-275-4772.

• Hill-Burton facilities: There are around 200 Hill-Burton health care facilities around the country that offer free or reduced-cost health care to those who can't afford to pay. To locate a facility or to see if you qualify, visit www.hrsa.gov/hillburton or call 800-638-0742 (800-492-0359 for Maryland residents).

• Free clinics: These are privately funded, nonprofit, community-based clinics that typically provide care for common illnesses and injuries to those in need, at little or no cost. There are around 1,000 free clinics nationwide. To locate one in your area, call your local hospital or visit www.freemedicalcamps.com.

• Indian Health Service (IHS): An agency within the Department of Health and Human Service, IHS provides free medical care to American Indians and Alaska Natives in 35 states. See www.ihs.gov.

• Remote Area Medical: A nonprofit, charitable organization that provides free health, dental and eye care to uninsured or underinsured people in remote areas of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia but may be expanding to other states in the future. www.ramusa.org, 865-579-1530.

Eye care

To locate free or discounted eye care or eye glasses programs in your area, your best resource is your local Lions Club. Call 800-747-4448 to get the number to your state Lions Club office, which can refer you to your community representative, or visit www.lionsclubs.org. There are also a variety of national eye care programs that can help you too including:

EyeCare America (www.eyecareamerica.org; 800-222-3937), a fantastic service that provides medical eye care at no out-of-pocket expense.

Vision USA (www.aoa.org; 800-766-4466) offers free vision care services to uninsured and low-income workers and their families.

Mission Cataract USA (www.missioncataractusa.org; 800-343-7265) provides free cataract surgery to people who don't have Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and are low-income.

New Eyes for the Needy (www.neweyesfortheneedy.org; 973-376-4903), an eyeglass program that accepts donations of used prescription eyeglasses and distributes them to people with limited incomes.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit www.savvysenior.org.