Anyone without Health Insurance?

[i.m.cheap]

We have no health insurance. We have been without for almost three years now since DH lost his job. He has always found work since, as a cook. He started attending college full-time in the fall of 2004 (after the job loss). We just can not afford insurance of any kind, except the liability on the car. I feel bad about it, but what can I do?

Dd is covered by a state sponsored health-care program for children. We make too little ($22,000 a year) to afford coverage, but too much to get any help. DH's employer makes health insurance available to employees only, no optional coverage for family, and the employee pays 90% of the premium. It is so expensive, none of the employees take it. They work in a restaurant, most making anywhere from $6.50-$10.00 an hour. The monthly premium amounts to about one week's pay for the average employee. It does not even include any dental or vision care coverage. What are families supposed to do?

DH had to go to the Dr. today. Money was really tight, but we had the cash to pay for an office visit. He had been very sick since last Thursday, and had missed two days of work (unpaid, of course). The glands on the left side of his neck were swollen, and he had difficulty swallowing. He was having a great deal of pain. So I made him an appointment. We always pay cash at the Dr.'s and get a 25% discount for paying the day services are rendered. A short (5 minutes with the Dr.) appointment usually costs us $41.25 (with the discount). DH took his debit card. First of all, when he got to the Dr.'s office and checked in, he was told since we had no insurance, he had to leave a charge card or debit card at the front desk before he could see the Dr. It was the first time this has ever happened, we always pay at the end of each visit, no problems.

He goes back and sees the Dr. Is told that he has an abscessed gland in his throat. DH mentions that if the Dr. has any sample medication instead of an expensive prescription, it would be appreciated, since we have no insurance. Our Dr. has always been very good about giving us samples. Which he also did this time. But he also ordered a shot (injection) of an antibiotic. DH had no problem with this, not knowing that the shot was going to cost $170!!!!! When he went up to the checkout desk to pay his bill, the total was $225. He was planning to use our debit card, and we had just under $100 in the account. He said he felt like crying. If we could have paid in full today, the total would have been $165 with the discount. But we didn't have it. So we paid the minimum $50 today, and they will bill us the other $175 (no discount). DH really felt sicker after leaving the Dr.'s office than he did going in. I don't know why the Dr. did not mention the cost of the shot, knowing that we have no insurance?

[FrugalMomof3]

I dont have Health Insurance either for myself that is, DH has one through his job and to have the family covered it would cost over $300 a month, the kids are covered through the state but just the kids because we're under the income limit. Again I do not have coverage so if I get sick, I fight it out with my Tylenol cold and flu

[fernykins]

I thank God I live in Califoria. They have what is called MIA its for adults that have no insurance and very little income. I have no income my sons pay for everything right now. Trying to get SSI. I have to go to their DRs and hospital. But with out it I could not afford my meds close to 1500 a month. When I get sick it wipes me out. I could not afford my hospital stay 5 days in ICU 125,000. I tried to go with out it but I cant. I am thankful the stste has this program
Fern

[Laurie in Bradenton]

No insurance here either. Haven't had any the last 17 years. Due to preexisting conditions we couldn't afford it so we just did without. When ever we had to go to the doctor or when our babys were born we took money from a health savings account we set up. It hasn't been easy but we have tried to put away at least $20.00 a week into an account just for health problems. When DD was born 13 years ago we paid for all the doctor visits from this account and when she was born we prepaid at the hospital from this account. When Ds broke his wrist the money came from this account. We are lucky here in our town there is a public hospital where they HAVE TO treat you. It may take hours to be seen but you will get seen and treated. When I had my heart attacks in Sept. I was a self pay and recieved just as good a treatment as the person with full coverage. When I had my surgeries I got discounts because I was a self pay. The big thing is our account. Its been very hard to make sure that that account has been funded, but we've done it. Now its really low but our bills have been paid. Now its time to build it back up again. We have had a long talk with DS who is going to be taking our business over and explained how this account works. Money HAS to go in and only be touched for medical stuff. We'll see how he does. Sometimes it means no dinner outs and not buying the last dodad but in the long run we're glad we did.

Laurie in BRadenton

[kaykwilts]

I could not imagine being with health insurance. One catastrophic illness could wipe out your entire life savings.

[i.m.cheap]

If we had a "life savings" we would use some of it to buy some health insurance. We are the working poor. Paycheck to paycheck, that's us. Our rent and basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and trash) take over one half of our take home pay.

[Missy]

nope none here either.

[laini]

We have insurance but it doesn't kick in much until we hit a high out of pocket. I can't complain when it comes to surgery or childbirth. We meet the out of pocket easily and the thousands of dollars amounts are covered by the insurance. But check-ups and well child checks and stuff like that in general aren't covered in a "normal" year for us. Labs aren't either. I really feel for those who have NO insurance.

[Persimmon Lace]

Check to see if your dh has an insurance plan through his school. My niece has her health insurance through the college she attends and it is very affordable. It won't cover you as much as a bigger plan would like 1 million dollars but it has come in handy for her plus she uses the clinic on campus. That might help some.

[bumplett]

I hope your husband voiced his concern about the Dr. not telling him how expensive the shot would be!!

[Marie78]

I have been unemployed for about 4 months now and my family has been helping me pay for a monthly health insurance through my state, it's called Healthy NY. It's $235 a month and the co-pays for Dr's and prescriptions are still pretty high. I basically have it in case an emergency arises. I hope to find a job in the next few months that will have health coverage. I was without coverage last year for about 6 months and I worried everyday that something would happen to me. I can't really even afford the 1/4 I pay for my monthly bill, however, I understand that medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. so I juggle what I can to make sure I pay my bills.

[Stormy]

Mom and Dad always had insurance where they worked and are still covered by Mom's insurance. I was covered until I was twenty-one. The price for insurance was more for being single than for being married and we simply couldn't afford it; and since I rarely got sick I went without.

Later on I ended up with a pre-existing condition and was without insurance when I had to have a tumor removed from my left breast. I'm still paying off the bills from this and it's been 5 years.

I was later able to get insurance when a company had an open door policy and it helps pay for my meds when I've paid in enough. And always helps on Dr. visits when I have to in for check ups or I'm sick and can't get well without going to see my doctor.

Even with the insurance, though, I stick it out and don't go to the doctor unless I know I really need to; and I can tell when I'm at that point.

[favesis37]

i don't have it either, it costs to much to put me on it. but thank goodness dh has it. his surgery is topping the 22,000 mark.

[PrairieRose]

We have insurance but since we're unemployed we have to buy our own. We can't get any good rates since we're considered 'individuals' not a group. We have an HSA (health savings account) that we can deposit up to the amount of our deductable every year, which is ...wait for it.....$5100/yr. Yep, that's our deductable. So if we have a hospital stay then we are covered otherwise we just have to pay out of our pockets for medical treatments. We can reimburse ourselves out of the HSA for all of it, including OTC meds but then we need to put the money back into it. It feels like a merry go round. The only way it's a good thing is if we have a hospital stay or something catastrophic but here's the kicker. It costs us about $900/mo. for Gripey, me and our college student dd. So, there is another view from the 'bosses' prospective (re: the thread we had about making $10/hour). We aren't able to offer it to our employee b/c it would almost double in premiums. The other thing is they raise the premiums every quarter and we've only met our deductable once in 3 years, they've had to pay VERY little.

[Jo]

As you can see from my signature...this is one of the main reasons I'm here on Frugal Village. I pay 100% of my premiums to my boss(4 person office) and it's $500 per month, with a $2500 deductible and then $2000 more out of pocket before the insurance pays 100%. I'm still working out the details(and expect it to be in my favor)...turned out the fancy "surgery center" was not in network, but they adjust your fee. Problem is...the surgery wasn't applied to my "$4500" max(which is a perk for staying "in network")......so I'm ending up paying 5900 instead of 4500! As I said, we're working on it.
Until this summer(and a freak accident resulting in a dislocated shoulder and a badly torn rotator cuff)...I really never even USED my insurance.....but now I'm seeing the bills. I don't know how I'd have done it without insurance.
This really needs to be addressed in our country.....the state programs are advertised as "health care for the uninsured"...but we make too much money to qualify! We pay twice....once for our own coverage, and again for the taxes to pay for the "state plan". Health care has become a priviledge of the wealthy.