Uninsured friend on FB had to go to ER, was rejected for a needed colonoscopy.

[HughBeaumont]

He's been having abdominal pains and bloody stools.

He has no health insurance and his employer doesn't offer it. The administrator told him that the specialist needed cash up front.

So much for the favorite conserva-meme "The Emergency Room takes EVERYone! There's no problem with teh poors not gettin health care!" . . .

[SoCalDem]

1. The ER will "take" everyone, but there are some procedures that are NOT

routinely provided by the ER.. That may be one of them.. Had your friend been in danger of dying there and then, they might have admitted him.

He will probably need to call a medical group that does colonoscopies and schedule his free one through their office.

He might also call the hospital's patient advocate office and perhaps they can advise him..

[HughBeaumont]

8. I think he knows this, and there are people that can help him out . . .

. . . . my point is summed up in Post 4: The ER is NOT a viable alternative to health insurance and many on this thread have pointed out why.

I posted this because the wingdings in my office were throwing this bullshit around that "no ER will deny any person if they need health care, Obamacare, blargle blargle blargh". But what if something that falls into the not-so-happy medium of "not critical, but not necessarily a condition you can brush off" happens?

[pangaia]

2. Must be the problem with for profit hospitals.

I have two very good and one good not-for-profit hospitals within 20 minutes and 45 minutes. This would never happen at any of these.

[Heather MC]

3. Sadly if he made it past the intake Nurse he will still get a bill

Can your friend get financial aid? I am not sure I am using the correct term. but a friend of my mine who didn't have healthcare for her son, got a hospital scholarship to help cover the cost when he broke his leg.

[Gothmog]

4. Emergency rooms are not a substitute for health insurance

The GOP talking point on this is wrong

[SheilaT]

5. Emergency rooms are only required to stabilize a patient,

give an appropriate referral for follow-up care, and discharge.

And they only need to do that if the accept Medicare payments, which is probably almost every hospital in the company, especially those who have emergency rooms.

There has long been a popular notion that all ERs treat all comers fully, but that simply isn't the case. What makes it seem confusing is that if you're in a car accident, or you have a broken bone, or flu symptoms, you will get treated, because these are simple and straight forward things. Abdominal pain and bloody stools? Going to require lots of diagnostic stuff. Presumably they gave your friend some sort of medicine to relieve symptoms, but they, unfortunately, have no obligation beyond that.

There ought to be some sort of department in the hospital that can help him get even temporary coverage for treatment. While it may be too late, I hope he is signing up for Obamacare.

Alas, this is far too common a story in this country.

[HughBeaumont]

9. He was advised to sign up for it.

Hope he did so.

[SheilaT]

13. I'm glad to hear he was given the right kind of advice and information

that he needed.

And now I hope he can get the needed tests in the very near future.

[Octafish]

6. Putting the interests of profit ahead of patients is the root of the problem.

It also goes to what makes Washington go 'round: Cash is King.

[jeff47]

7. The ER will only "take everyone" who is in immediate danger of dying.

If you're not in immediate danger of dying, they won't take you. And your friend is not currently in immediate danger.

But have no fear, that problem may fix itself soon.

[HughBeaumont]

10. Yet he falls into the medium of "a condition you cannot exactly sleep away".

This is where the GOP meme fails miserably and why the status quo needs to be quashed.

We still haven't solved the issue of affordability in spite of qualification. Seems to me we never will.

[treestar]

11. Depending on the state - but it might have a program

my state has "screening for life" and low income people can get all of the cancer screening tests through it.

[Spirochete]

12. That wouldn't be considered an emergency

I don't think. There are two or three days of prep involved with getting a colonoscopy. So that would be their way out. Though the pain and bleeding would indicate urgent need for some kind of action.