What do people do that don't have insurance?

[sorcerormickey]

I guess I just don't understand......My Mom was recently in the hospital for a week and the insurance statements are starting to roll in. She was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, which we had not known about. She was in the ICU for 4 days, then a regular room for 3 days.

We received the Ambulance bill....$560. The Hospital bill (so far)....just under $25,000.00. Thank God she has amazing insurance, so this is all covered. But I can't even think about what we would do if she did not have insurance. I wouldn't even know where to start in trying to pay all of that.

I know there are lots of people who do not have Health insurance (I myself did not for several years). What happens in a case like this without it?

 

[JimB.]

1. You probably don't get as extensive the care your mother is receiving.

2. The person without insurance gets hammered financially.

3. The cost of the tereatment gets shifted ontothose that CAN pay through increased insurance premiums, and the taxpayer gets hammered for the rest through increased medicare/medicaid/property taxes.

Great, isn't it??

 

[becka]

I often wondered that when the bills for my DS's birth started rolling in. I was in the hospital for 5 days before I had him and 4 days after. Plus I had a C-section and that can really pile on the costs.

I think my final totals were somewhere in the $25,000 ballpark. Thankfully I have decent insurance so I only ended up paying a little over $1,000 or so but I can't imagine having to pay the entire amount!

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I try to be extremely careful

 

[jamsmom]

Some who do not have insurance are in the position NOT by choice.

Example: My brother-in-law was laid off about 6 months ago. I would have cost aroung $1000/month to keep COBRA for the entire family. Without steady income coming in, there is no way to pay for this. Unemployment only covers so much. He has had a million interviews, once even getting through the HR process for the company to institute a hiring freeze. My nieces/nephew are now covered under something my sister found, but my sister and BIL are not.

Example #2: Friends of my sisters- Mom works part-time and the Dad was laid off. The daughter came down with some sort of pneumonia and no antibiotics worked for over 3 weeks. She was in ICU almost that entire time. They drained fluid off her lungs more than once. What will they do?

However, I know there are many out there without insurance who can afford it, but choose not to. However, the situation with my sister and BIL have taught me that try as they might, some things are unforseen.

 

[Steve H.]

You really don't want to know what chemotherapy costs.

 

[Disney Doll]

Usually the person ends up with a lot of bills which get paid over time, if the person is willing and/or able to pay.

Not having insurance does not change the treatment you receive while hospitalized. Actually, often the doctors and nurses have no idea what kind of insurance you have, nor do we care. Once you're there, we treat you. It's not a Chinese food menu, where if you have A Insurance, we can do X,Y, and Z, but if you have B Insurance, we only do X and Y.

Often, if someone is hospitalized without insurance, they will be set up with a social worker to see if there are any state or fedral programs that work for them.

Most hospitals are willing to try and work with you on some kind of payment plan. The problem is, when a payment plan is worked out, the person actually has to pay according to the plan. I have heard people say "Well, I had a monthly payment plan made out with the hospital, but I stopped paying it because I couldn't afford the payments any longer." Hello!!!! If the payment plan doesn't work for you any longer due to another change in your financila situation, you need to let someone know and a NEW payment plan gets worked out.

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

I'll let ya know in about 3 months or so what people do without insurance or adequate incomes. I'll be able to give you a first hand account I'm sure...that is if I'm able to continue internet service.
I'm really quite curious myself about that insurance part and am guessing that we'll just do what Jeff in BigD is doing...live our lives extremely carefully!
What I've seen happen often in our area is that people either file for bankrupcy or just plain walk away from medical bills, never paying and never really being told they MUST pay.

 

[Lynn CC]

We pay $777.79 every month for a family plan

 

[AllyandJack]

The girl I work with has no insurance. She works part time, so no insurance here and is a part time student, so no insurance through her small school. She called the State of MA and asked if she could get any help. Of course, she couldn't...because she works and has no kids. So, she has to quit her job and get pregnant and then the state will help her out. People who are uninsured are not all there by choice. However, I get a bit miffed that I pay taxes to let my cousin have insurance, since she got pregnant by a guy she met in drug rehab she qualifies, but yet this hard-working 20-year old kid who is trying to do the right thing gets nothing. It's really not fair.

 

[sorcerormickey]

Jamsmom- I would never imply that someone would be without insurance by choice. I too did not have insurance for a few years - even tho I was a manager, Disney just did not offer it at my level.

I am just so grateful for my Dad planning his pension the way he did, and choosing the program that would benefit my Mom the most after he died. She has full insurance for life (with only a $5 prescription copay), and a good pension for life as well. I just do not know what we would do right now without it.

 

[jfulcer]

One of my friends was layed off for a while. He couldn't afford the Cobra insurance, so he looked into alternative insurance.

He was able to take out a 'Catastrophic" insurance plan, which didn't cost a whole lot that would cover him and his family in the event of a catastrophy. Normal doctor visits for ear infections, etc aren't covered. But still if something serious goes wrong, you can be covered.

 

[eeyoreforever]

I have a major medical plan that covers my and my children with a $5000 deductible. The cost on even that is outrageous. A couple of months ago my premium went up from $172 to $264. With a $5000 premium, the insurance is basically worthless. The only time I've ever filed on it was when my youngest daugter was born. She was very sick and had to be lifeflighted-don't even want to talk about how much her helicopter ride cost. My husband has his own policy with better coverage and the cost is about the same as mine. I am very seriously considering dropping my insurance and that thought scares me to death.

As far as quality of care you receive, I have to disagree with the above poster. Maybe their health care is different from our area, but I worked in the emergency room (admitting patients) and on more than one occasion, if the person did not have insurance, they were turned away. They were told they should visit a family doctor or drive to another city to another hospital. This was back in 1985, so maybe things have changed.

Anyway, something needs to be done about the health care issue. I don't even take my children to the doctor unless they have been sick for about 10 days. Other people I know that have insurance take their kids the first day or two that they don't feel well. This is not to say that if I thought it was something serious I wouldn't take them. I would have them there in a heartbeat.

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by Lynn CC
We pay $777.79 every month for a family plan

Us too! About $350.00 every two weeks. I'd hate to think about no insurance. I've been in the hospital twice for pancreatitis. The last time was 1 month in the hospital and 3 months at home under a nurse's care and hooked up to an IV.

The medical bills were unbelievable and we only paid $200 copay to the hospital and nothing for the at-home care.

 

[Mark P.]

x

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

Its such a scary thing. We've got insurance now, but there have been times in the past when we didn't. Dh got laid off about 8 years back and DS was just a baby. I was so afraid something would happen to him. He did get sick that winter with bad ear infections (several) and our pediatrician was really good about billing us a lower rate than the normal and letting us pay over time. We were there a lot. Our prescrpition bill on the other hand was crazy!!! We had a hard time finding an antibiotic that worked and he wasn't allergic to. Two of my daycare children are on the NH Healthy Kids plan because mom...who works full time...has no insurance. But its there and it helps thank God.

Maybe someday everyone will be insured, but I doubt I'll ever see it.

 

[The Princess]

We pay $808.69 a month for a family of 4!! We do without alot so I can pay it every month.

 

[doxdogy]

Pray continually that you don't become seriously ill.

 

[Mishetta]

My DH & I moved to MI from CA & we both quit our jobs to do this. Since we quit our jobs, we did not qualify for any type of unemployment benies & we did not have any health insurance. (I know, some of you are thinking "why didn't you try to find a job before moving?" Well, I was a secretary & my DH was a Customer Service Rep & unless you are a "professional" you don't get hired when you're out of state!)

So here we were.....struggling with no income & no health insurance & a 6 week old baby. Baby developed an ear infection & had to take him to a doctor. I found a pediatrician close by & called the office & explained "no income, no insurance." They let us come in anyway & told me to speak directly to the doctor about our situation. I did & he asked me if I could afford to pay $15 for an office visit until we got insurance? If not, he would still treat my baby for FREE. I agreed to the $15 & he kept his word. He also gave us samples of whatever meds we needed for baby. Until we got insurance, he only charged us $15 each time & he gave me CASES of (expensive) formula (DS suffered from colic) & baby cereal. I was so touched.

We did all immunizations & well baby check ups at the health dept & was referred to all sorts of programs for my DS provided by the county.

Now, my husband works for Blue Cross so we have excellent benefits and I still go to the same pediatrician that I have so much respect for, as I will never forget how he helped us!

As Disney Doll posted, you do receive care at a hospital if you need it & they will work with you regarding payment if you have no insurance. We were on a payment plan too when I had to take DS to emergency. Since our income was so low (after my DH found some jobs thru temporary agencies), our payment was only $10 per month! Then it was adjusted to an affordable amount once my DH landed a permanent job.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by Mishetta
I found a pediatrician close by & called the office & explained "no income, no insurance." They let us come in anyway & told me to speak directly to the doctor about our situation. I did & he asked me if I could afford to pay $15 for an office visit until we got insurance? If not, he would still treat my baby for FREE. I agreed to the $15 & he kept his word. He also gave us samples of whatever meds we needed for baby. Until we got insurance, he only charged us $15 each time & he gave me CASES of (expensive) formula (DS suffered from colic) & baby cereal.

Wow! Bless that pediatrician!