7 ways you can afford to protect your health, even if you are uninsured

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

(Posted with permission from the author) His "blog" at http://www.saneramblings.com

In this rapidly sinking economy here are 7 ways you can afford to protect your health, even if you are uninsured:
http://saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=123

1) COBRA. In the U.S. if you lose your job and and it included health insurance, by law you have the right to continue your health coverage for a specific period of time. And it can include pre-existing medical conditions. The cost may be at your expense but the price for coverage you receive will be far better than what you can negotiate on your own. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.html

2) PICK A HIGH DEDUCTIBILITY. Make it $5,000 or even $10,000 deductible. It won't cover small medical bills but it will protect you from financial disaster should you become severely injured or deathly sick.

3) PAY FOR PRIMARY CARE. This includes doctor visits and medical checkups. It will catch medical problems before they get out of control. And many doctors will negotiate a much lower fee if you pay cash because you save them paperwork, time delay to get paid and the discount insurers will negotiate with them.

4) NEGOTIATE WITH THE HOSPITAL. If you have a hospital stay, review their bills in detail for hospitals routinely make billing errors. Then negotiate with them. They negotiate with insurance companies and the government and they can negotiate with you, and even set-up an affordable payment plan with you. Their objective is get paid, not bankrupt you.

5) PARTICIPATE IN A PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM. Wal-Mart and many other drug chains now have plans where you can pay just $4 a month for a wide variety of generic drugs. It includes a lot of commonly used medications which means uou can afford to stay on many of your medications. Some of your best pricing may come from Mom & Pop local drug stores, anxious to compete with the big chains. http://www.walmart.com/pharmacy

6) MAINTAIN YOUR HEALTH. Diet and exercise are crucial. So is wearing your seat belt when driving or riding in a vehicle. Wear a helmut when you ride a bike. And please don't smoke. Many diseases or crippling injuries you can prevent by living a healthy lifestyle and by taking proper precautions.

7) MAKE YOUR HEALTH A PRIORITY. Medical expenses are the second biggest cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. second only to job loss. Allow the time and effort to take good care of yourself and you'll live a far healthier and happier life.

Dick

Writer's Note: Thank you to Anne's and my youngest son Dr. Clayton Kazan, an emergency room doctor, who helped to prepare this article.

[DesertFlower]

1. thanks for the post. nt

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

2. No problem...

Happy to share some good advice!

:hi:

[rucky]

3. Sorry, I couldn't keep reading after COBRA

[sandnsea]

4. Out Of Touch

If you can pay $200-$500 for a doctor's visit for you and your family - you can pay for health insurance.

1. Every county has a health department and they often provide services for free, including immunizations and birth control.

2. Contact local non-profit hospitals and find out what their low income program is. Many have a program in place that you have to apply for. They don't all tell you that when you're struggling to pay the bills.

3. Almost every county has a free health clinic and free dental clinic. Find out where they are before you need them.

4. Print the list of the $4 medication and take it with you to the doctor. They don't know which medications are on the list and can often help you for far less than what they would normally prescribe, if they just know what's available.

5. Ask for samples.

6. If you are uninsured, you likely qualify for free medication through pharmaceutical programs.

7. If you have children, apply for your state's CHIP program.

8. If you are sick, go to the ER. Don't wait for your illness to get worse.

[hunter]

15. Sample drugs need to be outlawed.

I'd make distributing sample drugs a felony of the sort that could cost a doctor their license.

The vast majority of them are very expensive substitutes for inexpensive generics, and there are too many doctors who hand them out like candy to low income patients for ongoing illnesses, and then these patients circumstances change such that the patient is left with a prescription they can't possibly afford.

These patients might just not go to a doctor again, especially if the meds are for a psych disorder.

[sandnsea]

24. That's a fantasy

Doctors do not hand out drugs like candy. They either get you on a free program or, thanks to the dastardly Walmart, get you on a $4 med. The free prescriptions are to hold you over until you're approved for a free plan. If doctors couldn't give medication away, a lot of people would just flat out die.

[hunter]

26. Doctors do not get inexpensive generic med samples from drug reps.

They're drug cupboards are generally filled with the most expensive drug brands, and these drugs are generally NOT the most appropriate drugs for any given patient. "Free Plans" are also not appropriate for many patients. A lot of people can hardly get their written prescription to a pharmacy reliably, much less jump through the hoops required for various "free plans."

These free plans generally exist only to blunt criticism of the pharmaceutical corporations, "See, we have a free program!!! We're not evil, no really!"

There are hundreds of expensive drugs that are less effective and more dangerous than very inexpensive generics. It's these expensive drugs that doctors tend to give out as samples, and these doctors prescription practices are biased by the drug reps who deliver them.

[sandnsea]

29. I got free meds for nearly a year

So did my mother. I think it's a crappy substitute for a real health care plan. I also know that sometimes you can't even afford the generics, before there was $4 medication. The doctor's office manages the free prescription program where I live. Maybe some of the caring people in other towns could get their clinics to do the same thing.

[hunter]

32. I've seen some drug sample train wrecks.

For example, a doctor will give a patient Lexapro samples and a prescription, the patient will take that for awhile and then quit because it's too expensive or their insurance changes or denys it. They won't return to the doctor either, because, duh, they are depressed. If anyone follows up this same person will sincerely claim they don't think they need the medicine any more.

These days doctors have trouble discerning a patient's living situation in the short amount of time they are allotted with each patient, and a lot of patients try to put on a good face for their doctor and pharmacist and not reveal that their living situation is pretty grim.

All along this same patient could have been taking generic citalopram from the $4.00 pharmacy, and wouldn't ever have had any problems refilling the prescription and their depression would still be treated.

I'm not picking on Lexapro by the way, or the doctor, it's just one of many ways our so-called healthcare system fails people.

[madinmaryland]

5. That will work if you are employed. If not, those you will probably

do you no good, as you won't be able to do much other that try and maintain your health, which may also be difficult.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

Most people are employed....

So most people can be helped by the advice of Mr. Kazan. I don't think he was addressing the problem of having no money and no job, but thank you for taking the time to chime in.

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

9. Uhm.. I'm employed with insurance, so points 1-5 are moot, but 6 and 7 should

be important to everyone.

I think it really applies to those who are working without insurance but still have enough to buy some sort of health care.

[sandnsea]

25. Most people without insurance are employed

So I don't think Mr. Kazan was addressing reality in any form.

[Donnachaidh]

6. COBRA?

Please don't make me laugh. :sarcasm:

Payments for a family of three is over $1,000 a month. Try to do that on unemployment and STILL pay your rent, car payments, insurances, etc.

Oh yeah -- and there is this thing called FOOD that is required.

Sure, if you've made a 100K per year you can probably afford Cobra. But the real working class in this country cannot.

Sorry, but the knee-jerk *fixes* written about in Better Homes and Gardens or any other magazine out there does NOT apply to the working class and it TOTALLY out of TOUCH with reality on the ground. :sarcasm:

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

8. I guess this column is for people who are not unemployed...

...That is most of us, out here. And even if you are unemployed, and cannot afford COBRA, other stuff on the list, you can do at no extra cost - loose weight, wear your helmet, etc.

[hunter]

12. Our family ran out a COBRA.

First the COBRA sucks away all your money, and then you are dumped out onto the streets with nothing.

Being uninsurable because you had the misfortune of getting sick or injured is a trip. Aren't you glad Wal Mart has a four dollar pharmacy, and doctors hand out samples of drugs for chronic illnesses that you can't otherwise afford and then you end up in a situation where you have to stop them cold turkey? (It's a blast with psych drugs, let me tell you...)

So many people think our health care system is the "best in the world" or some such rot, until they fall through the "safety net" into a pit of vipers.

[John Q. Citizen]

7. #8, Don't get sick with an expensive disease as this has shown to cause finacial distress.

#9 Don't get old. Studies have proven older people tend to have more and higher health care costs.

#10 Win the lottery. This is a time tested and proven way to afford health care in America. 9 out of 10 power ball winners can afford even the most expensive procedures as well as minor care.

#11 Pick parents with healthy genes. Study after study has shown that people who have parents with good healthy genetic traits tend to have less health care costs than those with parents who have genes that lead to higher health care costs.


Follow these simple suggestions and you health care problems are sure to shrink.

[madinmaryland]

10. #12. Pick parents with the "wealthy" gene.

[John Q. Citizen]

21. Yes, to this and to your #13 suggestion below

My guess is for 150 bucks or less the Smith and Wessan solution is probably one of the most cost effective strategies for modern Americans.

Campare that to the costs of a heart bypass or cancer treatment, and it's an obvious solution if you want to pass something on to your kids, or just are so greedy as to want your home to live in until you die.

[Cleita]

14. A Smith and Wesson to the temple is also known

to relieve health care problems.

[Cleita]

11. So many things are not workable in this post.

High deductible means that the insurance company will still decide what applies to the deductible and in what amount. So they may approve a $120 procedure at $100. So even though you spend $5,000 on medical bills maybe the insurance only recognized $3,700 on their deductible. The deductible starts every January all over again too. So the end result is that not only are you paying for your health care but you are paying for premiums that you get nothing for. (Been there and done that.)

When you pay cash to the doctor and he doesn't submit the claim, you get nothing applied to your deductible.

Most drug plans, even Wal-Marts end up costing you money because the phrmas now can charge anything they like for pills.

All the diet and exercise and good living in the world will do you no good when your genes kick in a hereditary disease, or you fall on hard times and have to live on macaroni and cheese and hamburger helper, or your job gives you a work related disability.

The day that you get into an accident that permanently maims you, or get an incurable cancer, none of the above is any help at all. Your insurance will either go sky high, with the same deductibles, will have a clause not covering your disability, or will just not be renewed.

The good news is that when you run out of insurance and are on disability, you may qualify for Medicare that does cover you for your health care needs no matter what they are.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

13. Where's #8?

Start dragging health insurance and big pharma executives around behind pickup trucks?

[hunter]

16. By their testicles.

:grr:

[Cleita]

17. Add any Congressman and Senator that is in the pockets of Big PhRMA

and the health insurance and for profit health care industry.

[kimmerspixelated]

22. Bingo!

[Warpy]

18. 1,2 and 3 assume someone will write an insurance policy for you

which is something a lot of us have been refused. I have been uninsurable for 20 years.

I do the other four. I just got a nice check from an HMO for my last doctor visit, so it does pay to call and negotiate lower prices if you are uninsured.

The main problems are little diagnostic and preventive care.

[BoneDaddy]

19. Excellent info

Ty very much

[kimmerspixelated]

20. You mean well.

But # 6 is the only real way to cut costs. I might add that diet and exercise are not enough. The main reason for illness has to do with deficiencies and toxicity. One must find out what they are deficient in, take whole food based supplements(not synthetics) and the purest fish oils, etc. Cleanse and detoxify. Nutritional Education, and working towards living without drugs of any kind go a very long way towards health.

Having said that-Doctors/MSM do have a place in emergencies, and routine checkups, etc. It's good to have accidental coverage, but everything is still too high for most folks.

Perhaps wear some Karma beads everyday!

[hunter]

23. The health care system of the United States is a great pile of smoldering crap.

No worries if you are wealthy, working in a good job, and escape any serious accident or illness. If you are sick, if your are poor, well it's probably your own damned fault. You should've worked harder and taken better care of yourself.

But everyone can simply plug their noses, ignore the tears, and enjoy the more expensive facades of modern medicine, those hospitals and clinics where the celebrities go, the foundation grants, the investment portfolios. Pay no attention to the screaming people falling through the cracks, and the smelly homeless people on the streets, and the people who show up in the ER too late -- bodies eaten away by advanced cancers, bodies with dead kidneys and rotting feet, baby bodies damaged in the womb...

Be healthy, be happy, and turn up the music as you relax in your Lexus. Everything is fine.

[Cleita]

33. Yep, nobody thinks of the people who really need health care when

giving out Opraesque advice to those who really don't have to worry that much about it. The thing is those people could have benefitted from early detection and treatment if only they had access to the doctor, tests and medication that could have helped them before their kidneys failed, the cancer spread and if the baby could have been taken care of from that moment that the mother knew she was pregnant.

[phusion]

27. To #6

Take care of your teeth!

[shadowknows69]

28. Great thread K+R and many thanks.

There are too many of us out there that would benefit from this advice.

[izquierdista]

30. 8) Travel to get health care

Don't feel obliged to stay in the most expensive country for health care in the world. The quality of health care in other countries is nothing to fear, and in many cases is BETTER than #37 ranked America.

[Juche]

31. What about pre existing conditions

I want to buy high deductible insurance but think I'll be rejected on the private market. The problem with buying insurance is that if you get rejected, it is alot harder to buy it later (they ask things like 'have you ever been rejected while buying health insurance before'). Its idiotic. If I try to buy it and get rejected, I almost cement the chances that I will remain uninsured. So I remain uninsured. I need to talk to a healthcare actuary about it.

So I'm not really sure what to do. I live in Indiana, and I think elimination riders are prohibited here.

Also #8 should be visiting government clinics, who charge on sliding scales.

http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/



Also the vast majority of healthcare expenses go to chronic conditions (about 75% goes to chronic problems) and acute accidents. So try to avoid those too with good prevention methods (diet, exercise, supplements, medications, lifestyle changes). Asthma, arthritis, alzheimers, osteoperosis, CVD, stroke, dementia, parkinsons, cancer, etc