Living without health insurance

[TomW]

This is going to be a bit long winded but I think it's worth doing.
A few years things were going great. You know good job plus thriving business.
Then I got hurt at work. Seriously hurt. Here's what transpired.
The company i worked for rewarded be for years of hard work and loyal service by dropping my family health insurance as soon as the law allowed.
30 Days
Of course you never need your insurance more then you do when you dont't have any.
All hell breaks loose.
Here are a few ways I learned to survive that might help others and maybe some of you could add more.
One of the first things that happened was a relapse of an old disease that I thought I had beaten.
New treatment would run $1400 a month for drugs plus constant blood tests and doctor visits for the duration of 1 year minimum.

YA that's 2 zeros. Might as well have been 4 zeros in the boat I was in. I went to an internet suport group and asked what others were doing. I was getting e-mails in minutes telling me a drug company had a program for uninsured low income. YA right I'm always not poor enough or not rich enough but what the hell I gave it a shot and called the number. I sent in my financial info and got a call back 4 hours later telling me I was accepted and have the doctor call them.
The doctor didn't even know about this. The income lever was a lot higher than I imagined it would be. By the way it worked and the disease in now again in remission.
I dropped my old family doctor. Seeing him a lot rather than rarely let me see what a jerk he really was. I went to a group associated with the local hospital. Again at the advice of internet support groups. They were right. The doctors were a lot sharper and there is access to a closet full of free drugs.
Every time I see the doctor I remind him I do not have insurance and keep that in mind writing the prescription. I tell the doctor every time about the insurance. (They aren't likely to remember and usually don't see it on the chart.)
If that doesn't get him to go to the sample closet (he almost always does) I ask him if there is an older less expensive drug that might be just as effective. This is the case very ofen. Doctors are lobbied relentlessly and rewarded by drug companies to prescribe the new expensive drugs and they do.
For simple antibiotics you might have to take it 4 times a day instead of once but if the differance of $8 to $12 vs $100 to $125 is important to you ASK.
I shop before filling prescriptions and usually use an internut drug store. We save over half the cost of Rite Aid. I get quotes from a couple and fill at the lowest. The prices vary a lot between companies. A knifemaker recently told be to look at the local "sams" I will. It might be a good place for something that has to be filled right away.
Recently telling the doctor I was uninsured he made a suggestion. Told me if I wanted to save money think about stopping coming there. I figured he was just being a wise ass and just before I was going to tell him to go f himself. He said think about this. If it looks like you're going to be uninsured for the forseeable future think about doing whatever it takes to "NOT TO HAVE TO COME HERE"
Do whatever it takes. Diet, Exercise,stop smoking,Cholesterol etc. etc.etc. The vast majority of his patients are treated for completely preventable things.
Great advice. prevent disease. Wear gloves, wash your hands finatically. I do this and haven't had a cold for 3 years. I'll have the fly tomorrow for saying that but it's true. I also stay away from sick people.
If I am to visit somebody that has a house full of rug rats and a couple are usually sick I call and ask if anybody is sick. "Sorry sis I like you but it's not worth $200 and a weeks production to see you" Worth thinking about?
Another thing I did was go to the dental school at the local university. Saved more than half.
You can also negotiate the price of dental work. If your dentist looks at you like your crazy talk to another dentist and another and another. Whatever it takes.
Think of prevention there too. Take better care of your taste. Hammer the kids about brushing.
Think about safety more. In the shop. Plenty of guys here can tell you what an injury costs.
I walk more carefully on the snow and ice.
Geez just goes to show you how a little desperation changes you.
Hope This post is of use to somebody.
All the best

 

[rhrocker]

Thanks for writing this Tom, it's a great post! As one who's "been there" the past 2.5 years (as far as health problems), I can relate. Fortunatly my wife carries insurance where she works so my problems have been covered, after the deductable. I recently had a pain pump implanted in my abdomen, a little over $60K for something the size of a small plate (about 3.5 x 1). The major back surgery last year was twice that. I couldn't have done any of it, had it not been for the insurance. I'd be flat on my back, being a nuisance to my family. As it is, I can get around fairly well, still make my living with furniture and knives, but at 1/2 the speed of a good normal person.
My problem was a little different, as it is caused form a bone disease. Before the surgery, I was getting 8 steriod shots in my back, every 2 weeks, for a year. Plus several other things, no fun. Could I have saved myself all the trouble to my family, and pure agony to myself, with better self preservation beforehand? Possibly, I don't know. But if I had the chance now, to follow your lead, I surely would. I have changed sevreal of my knife related work habits, the distance from certian tools, heights, and so on. I also have to watch out for a grinder or buffer sending something sharp (or not sharp) into my abdomen where the pump is located, that would mean the final chapter for me, so I tend to guard that area quite well.
Didn't mean to ramble, but I appreciated you posting your thread. I hope things will turn around for you, and the way you're approaching this thing, it should.

 

[TomW]

Thanks Actually things have turned around a lot. I'm a lot healthier. bought an old boat and pretty much lived on it last season. Hard times help you see what's important in life.

One tip , among many I didn't write out of fear of turning the post into a novel. My gallbladder exploded and I went into the er with pain like I never imagined. I was on the expensive chemo at the time and refused to let the hospital supply them. I had my wife bring them from home. Whoo they didn't like that but told them if it bothered them they could throw me out and I'd call my lawyer. I got an itemized bill and they still tried to charge me $500 for drugs I didn't take. ALWAYS ALWAYS get an itemized bill.
Try to be aware of what they do and give you as much as possible. If you're out of it have your wife help keep track as much as possible.
Get an itemized bill

 

[ddavelarsen]

This is a very good post with a lot of valuable information. Many of our members are without health insurance as you are, and I'd guess that they too have found ways to reduce the cost of their own expenses.

The health insurance my employer provides is going to a system next year that will require thinking much like you have been doing. They're going to give each person a small amount of money to spend on healthcare wherever and however they chose; when it's gone they'll pay half of further expenses, up to a set amount, and then we're on our own. Their stated purpose for moving to this plan (which is one that Bush has been pushing too, as part of his healthcare initiative) is to make individuals recognize the costs of healthcare, get them to question their doctors for less expensive treatments, forgo some treatments, etc. While it's going to have a major negative impact on me (my wife is chronically ill and has been on medical disability for several years), I think it's a reasonable approach. People have grown complacent about their healthcare costs and I think that's contributed to much of the increase in overall cost. When demand for some of these services is curtailed because people just cannot afford them, the good old capitalist economy will make its adjustments and we should end up with a better system overall.

Your doctor is a wise man. We've been talking about the very things you mentioned - lifestyle changes that will improve our overall health. Because healthcare is only going to become less available rather than moreso, it's smart to begin to make changes that mean it's needed less.

I do have health insurance and that is one of the primary reasons I want to continue my employment to retirement. Without the health insurance I don't think we'd still own a home; expenses would have bankrupted us long ago.

Flexible Reimbursement Account for Medical Expenses
For those of you who do have health insurance, and if your (or your spouse's) employer offers a Flexible Reimbursement Account for healthcare costs as part of your benefits package, I recommend you take advantage of it. An FRA allows you to set aside pretax income to cover deductibles and non-covered healthcare costs. This is valuable because the medical deduction at tax time is something like $5000; if you don't have that much in expenses the deduction has no value in your tax liability. But using an FRA you can have the tax advantage of even $25 in non-covered expense. It also allows you to draw against future witholding to pay larger expenses presently. The caveat for these accounts is that there is no requirement for the employer to reimburse unused money that you've had deducted from your pay. Mine doesn't. So if you overestimate your expense at the beginning of the year you may lose any money that you haven't spent by year's end. So far I've managed to guess pretty close each year and only had a couple of hundred dollars of expense that I paid without the tax savings. This program, particularly if you have known medical costs, is very valuable and I've found that too few people realize its benefit.

Thanks for a timely and worthwhile thread Tom.

 

[TomW]

I can add a lot more. Knifemaking being a cottage industry puts in a rocky boat. A lot of us have working spouses that we depend on for insurance. As you can see by my case all it takes is a blink of an eye and you're on your butt. An injury or lost job and you're hurting.
And it will hit the fan when you're uninsured. So you go into the hospital and come out with a 50g bill. It's not the end of the world. The fact that we went into the hospital and came out means it's not the end of OUR world. Someday yes but not now not today yahoo. It's only a bill. You'll have bills to the day you die. Let me Quote our VP " the deficet doesn't mean anything" In a way he's right, just numbers in a ledger. But you DO HAVE TO PAY SOMETHING.
Anything. $10 a week if that's all you can afford even $10 a month but pay every time. This is for good reason
1 ...Hospitals are good for putting leins on property. If you're lucky enough to be in a strate where they can't, that's great. I believe in most they can and do. In hard times it's refinancing that can save you. You cannot refinance with a lein on your house. Well of course you can. There are mortgage companies that will lend to you at a higher interest rate. Providing, of course, that you borrow 50g more to pay the lein. At a higher rate.
Just what you need. It's like buying your house again f 50g more.
You can prevent this with $10.
2.. Hospitals are also good for taking you to court for simple non payment.
even if there is no lein it messes up your credit and that means higher rates also. Remember $10.
Try not to make arrangements directly with the hospital for terms. They usually bully you into higher terms than you can afford. Definately try not to do it in writing. Send them a letter stating that you have hard times bla bla bla and you will pay what you can afford bla bla. And do it. If you already made an agreement send the same letter. THIS KEEPS YOU OUT OF COURT
while you get well and back on your feet.

 

[neosporin]

... I got an itemized bill and they still tried to charge me $500 for drugs I didn't take. ALWAYS ALWAYS get an itemized bill.
Try to be aware of what they do and give you as much as possible. If you're out of it have your wife help keep track as much as possible.
Get an itemized bill

Same thing happenned to my father a year or two ago... He just went in to be observed while sleeping (i think it was about his snoring... not sure) and came out with a bill of 800 or so dollars for a crapload of drugs... the itemized list was literally 4 feet long.

 

[Shann]

I am fortunate to have health insurance. I get it through my wife's job. I'm also a partner in a firm that has 33-34 employees and I know how expensive it is.

There are some policies out there for "catastrophic" illness or injury. They have big deductibles, like 10K, but can be affordable and protect against bills for cancer, heart attack, etc.