Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with uninsured

skin cancer, no health insurance

ainsley — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:23:30 -0800

My friend appears to have Basal Cell Carcinoma on his ear. He has no health insurance and has so far been denied any low-income health care options. This thing needs to be removed from his ear. We are in Portland, OR. Does anyone please know of any options/services/programs that can help with this sort of thing? So, last night, my dear friend shows me a growth on his ear that has been increasing in size for the past 8 months. It has all the characteristics of Basal Cell Carcinoma - a common form of skin cancer than can be easily treated if caught early and removed.

He has no health insurance and is self-employed. He has applied for various low income health care options but has been denied because they want to see tax forms from the previous year. His income from the previous year is too high to qualify him for their services - however, his financial situation this year is radically different (much less income) then what is reflected on his past tax returns.

He needs to get this growth on his ear removed. I refuse to believe that there cannot be assistance available to help him get this sorted out. Does anyone please know of any options/services/programs that can help?

Can an Australian citizen get Effexor XR in the US without selling a kidney?

out of context — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:54:06 -0800

My husband, an Australian citizen, is in the US on a tourist visa. We would like him to stay for 3 more months, but he would need a supply of Effexor XR from a local source. Is there a way to do it on the cheap? I'm uninsured and unemployed. It would be nice to be together while my immigration paperwork to Australia goes through the bureaucratic machine, but we can't really afford to pay $400 per month for his meds here. It would be only slightly less than the cost for him to fly back home and then back here again.

My husband's doctor in Australia can't write another prescription if my husband is not physically present in the doctors office. He is on a fairly epic dosage, and this is why it's so expensive. Oh, and there is no generic version.

Tapering off or discontinuing the drug is not an option. Neither is a liquor store robbery spree; I am far too polite, even when I have a shotgun.

I greatly appreciate any comments and ideas you may have. I see that there have been similar questions asked here about defraying the insane cost of prescription drugs in the US, but his citizenship and this particular drug put a bit of a twist in it.

Uninsured leading to the mortgage crisis

woolylambkin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:40:33 -0800

I'm looking for anecdotes of the uninsured facing financial crisis, such as losing their houses, due to medical bills. I'm writing an essay on health insurance and would like to start with an anecdote of someone losing their house or something similar due to lack of health insurance. I want to say that I heard Obama use a similar story in one of his speeches but can't seem to find it again. I'm also sure that I've heard similar stories on NPR but again I can't find any transcripts. I know there are stories like this out there but I can't seem to find any. It'd also be nice if the story was from a source that I can cite for my paper.

What is the cheapest approach for an uninsured American to obtain a basic hairloss prescription

Auden — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:56:29 -0800

What is the cheapest approach for an uninsured American to obtain a simple prescription for a hair-loss medication? After several years of ordering the hair-loss preventative drug finasteride (aka propecia or proscar) from overseas, fears of drug counterfeiting are pushing me to obtain a US script and start buying my pills locally. But... I'm uninsured at the moment and without a local doctor. I'd like to avoid making (and paying for) a full dermatology appointment just for this simple (and common) prescription. Are there other, less costly options? (ie, prescribing nurse practitioners, etc)

I was uninsured. But it's irrelevant to my point.

hulahulagirl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:17:39 -0800

Ok, well, it turns out Dollar Rent A Car wants to take me to court for the $1000. (see: this question) I plan to file in small claims court before they can take me to court because I think that will give me a better chance of winning. However, I only want to discuss who is responsible for the $1000 and not whether or not I was insured at the time. Help! If you don't have time to read my previous question which gives the background info:
* I was driving a rental car from Portland, OR to Idaho when someone pulled out in front of me on the highway. She was cited, I was not. I have a copy of the police report.
* Her parents' insurance co. (SafeCo) paid the balance of the market value of the rental car minus the salvage sale price, to the tune of over $11,000. No bodily injuries for any parties involved, luckily.
* A little over $1000 of the bill remains, which SafeCo says it will not pay because it is for "excessive towing charges." SafeCo did not specify their cap for towing charges, only that in this case they were "excessive."
* The bill for towing the car back to Portland contains no identifying info on the car ----no VIN, no make/model, no date, no total # of miles it was towed, nada! It only has the towing co's name, and a total price. This is the legal reason I plan to present in court of why I am refusing to pay the outstanding amount.
* BUT, I was not insured at the time. I don't own a car so I didn't have a policy of my own (and I declined Dollar's addt'l coverage, which wouldn't have helped with excessive towing charges anyway). So, yes, I was stupid. Agreed.

But help me to NOT make it worse by admitting in court that I was uninsured. Hopefully it won't even come up. (Of course if I am asked directly I will not lie.)

I wrote a letter to Dollar (after a phone consult with an atty) and told them I was not responsible for the above-named reasons, mostly that their towing receipt could be considered forged at worst and null at best. They countered with their standard response of "Your name is on the contract and you WILL pay! See you in court. Mwa haha!"

Cut to: small claims court----how do I frame my argument without mentioning that I was uninsured? I want to leave that piece of info out of the picture entirely if possible. According to a couple of quick searches, driving while unisured in OR means losing your license for a year. I don't know if this means being cited for no insurance (logical, right?) or if I could possibly incur the same penalty if it is brought up in small claims court even though it is not relevant to who pays the remaining $1000 and it's almost six months after the accident. I was not cited for being uninsured at the time of the accident.

If it does come up, is there anything I can say to help my position?

Also, if there's anything else in this puzzle I'm missing, feel free to address that, too. Thanks! I'm just trying to be prepared. My only other foray into small claims court was ruled in my favor because the other party didn't show up.

P.S. Am I right in thinking that if I win a judgment in small claims court, saying I am not responsible for the $1000, that it will apply to any future case they try to bring against me?

Affordable Mental Health

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:32:30 -0800

What resources are available in the Phoenix/Mesa area for a 26 year-old male who suffers from depression and is uninsured? Specifically, are there low-cost clinics available? Ways to search for cheap therapists? Any organizations that can give me even the most basic guidance?

I know I will probably have to find a therapist who works on a sliding scale, but, beyond that, I don't know where to look or how to begin.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Financial assistance for sudden health problems

MarkLark — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:13:10 -0800

Please help a friend's family with sudden health care issues Hi all, posting this on behalf of my friend, whose family is going through some tough times at the moment. This is uncharted territory for all parties involved, so I hope to tap the wisdom of the hive mind...

The short question is: Do you know of any medical or financial services that offer assistance to cancer patients without insurance? Also, possible question of malpractice in the extended details below... Family is in Florida.

First, a few facts. Family has no health insurance. Mom is the wage earner in the household. Dad is a veteran, is disabled, but not disabled as a result of military service. He does receive some disability income.

Some months ago, mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.. recently it had progressed to stage 2. Despite their low income and the high cost of treatment, they were able to arrange a payment plan with the doctor/hospital. At this point it is putting a severe financial strain on the family and family members who are helping out, but everything seems ok at this point as she's able to receive the treatment she needs.

This past Friday she went to the doctor to prepare for the chemotherapy treatment to begin in a week's time. Underwent surgery to remove a few nodes on one side, a chemo port was installed on the other side. Later that day, she began complaining of severe migraines, became very dizzy and bedridden. At this point the family became concerned and she was brought to the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital for observation in the early morning hours on Saturday, at which point she lost consciousness. From Saturday through Sunday she received no direct attention from a doctor, family was given very little information as to why mom was not waking up, and was continuously told a 'doctor was on the way' but none ever arrived. So beyond the initial ER doctor who had her admitted for observation, and despite her basically slipping into a coma/losing consciousness, she was never examined. Finally late Sunday/early Monday it was determined she'd need to see a neurologist, and was then moved to another larger hospital in the area.

Upon being given a CT scan by a neurologist at the new hospital, it was determined that she had pressure on the brain, which caused the symptoms that led up to her current condition. They drilled holes to relieve the pressure, but blood came out (if I'm not mistaken, the brain is surrounded by spinal fluid, not blood, so for blood to come out is a bad thing). They then determined that she had a lump of cancerous tissue at the back of her brain, so full-on brain surgery took place to remove some (but not all) of it (not yet sure why only 'some' was removed). This is quite recent (yesterday afternoon) so beyond that I have very little information, other than that the doctors say the procedure went well. They also mentioned that had she not made it to hospital #2 when she did, she would have died that night.

So, all of this is quite a shock to family and friends - not only are they worried about their mom, but how they can possibly afford to pay for this .. so I ask: Do you know of any programs designed to help people in situations like this? I don't know if there's anything that specifically helps cancer victims, or perhaps spouses/family of veterans, something along those lines.

And a secondary question as to whether you think there was questionable treatment at the first hospital... you would think that someone who suddenly loses consciousness for unknown reasons wouldn't have to wait 2 days to be examined by a doctor. I don't know if this approaches the domain of malpractice or if it just the sad state of our health care system. (We're not in a major metro area so this wouldn't be an issue of an overtaxed hospital staff, either.) If anything I question the lack of attention from the hospital may be tied to their lack of insurance. I highly doubt the family would look to sue - it's certainly not on their mind at the moment. But if this would be considered gross negligence I would like them to know this.

Thanks very much for any suggestions you may have... if it would help to have more information, I'll follow up with my friend and post his response..

How can we afford these prescriptions?

owtytrof — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:38:58 -0800

Prescription medication for uninsured. My wife is uninsured, but recently decided that she needs to resume therapy for her bipolar(this is a good thing). Also good is that she's felt vast improvements in the past few months since starting her therapy. The bad thing is that, being uninsured, the medication is very costly for us. She's a full time student and I make barely enough to support us as it is.

I've looked into insurance, and can't find any decent individual plans that wouldn't cost us more than the medication itself.

Does anyone have experience with those prescription discount cards, or any other ideas? She's paying about $160/month for prescriptions right now. I know there are much more costly medications out there, but when you're already spread thin, it's hard to find that money. Going into (more) debt is something we'd like to avoid, since we're already struggling.

Help me get an uninsured hit and runner

Wong Fei-hung — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:14:30 -0800

How do I make an uninsured hit and run driver pay? I want him off the street. I do not want to do this guy any favors. How do I notify the community of this menace. Saturday I was stopped at a stop sign and a driver making a sharp (think race car) left hand turn onto my street hit me head on and then ran. I only have liability coverage on my car as it is 11 years old and not worth the blue book value of the car at alittle under 1900 dollars.-

I got his license plate number, and he was caught/cited later. I also have his name, (suspended) drivers license number, year/make of his vehicle, the address he gave the police (and about 5 other addresses he has lived at in the past 14 years) and his birth date.

I also have his brothers name, and address (the address he gave the police). (I am planning on showing up at his hearing even if he does not.)This person is self employed as a painter and has been described to me as a functional alcoholic. I could not find his business listed in the phone book.

How can I figuratively, legally, make him pay for the 2,000 dollars in damage to my car? What are my options?

Why can't I get Gardasil at 27?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:30:08 -0800

Why can't I get Gardasil after I turn 27? I'm pretty sure that somewhere before Gardasil came out, I read that the reason the upper age limit was set at 26 is because that is the age by which most women have lost their virginity. (Gardasil is given before you become sexually active, so that you don't catch HPV.)

I turn 27 next month, I have no insurance (and have been denied Medicaid twice) and there's no way in hell I can afford $130 per shot, for 3 shots. (I really can't even afford a payment plan, unless they'll take like $5 a month.) I'm a virgin. As long as I remain a virgin, can I still get the shot later on?

My general doctor and GYN seem to want to rush me to get the first shot before my birthday. As far as I can tell, though, there is no magic switch that flips the minute I turn 27, saying I can no longer get the vaccine. Is there any reason beyond virginity to not give Gardasil over that age? Will it be hard to find a doctor who will vaccinate me later on?

(FWIW, so there is no doubt - I'm not a "technical virgin" - the farthest I've gone with a guy is that I've been kissed on the cheek.)

Uninsured-patient health clinics in Portland, OR?

sleepy pete — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:30:43 -0800

Any suggestions on health clinics for the uninsured in Portland, OR? I've had an earache for about a week and figure I should probably go get it checked out. I don't have any insurance at the moment so I don't want a visit to the doc to cost a fortune. I've been told about the Portland Clinic, but I'm wondering if there are any other suggestions from those who may know. I don't really need a free clinic, just one that isn't going to charge an arm and possibly a leg to look at my poor uninsured ear. Thanks.

Is it legal to be a passenger in an uninsured vehicle?

InsanePenguin — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 21:48:02 -0800

Can you ride as a passenger in an uninsured vehicle without legal ramifications? As always, there is Just as a refined version of the question: In the state of New Jersey, if one is caught (whether by being pulled over or in an accident, or something else I haven't thought of) riding as a passenger in an uninsured vehicle, will that person have any liability for the driver/car being uninsured? This is assuming, if it matters, that the passanger has no legal relationship with the driver (i.e. marriage, co-ownership of place of residence)

Help me MeFi, you're the only way to satisfy my curiosity!

By the way, if anyone knows of anywhere that I could find more information on this, preferably somewhere that was well-respected/official in nature, that'd be even more fantastic!

Uninsured Motorist Accident

mikelly — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 21:49:07 -0800

What happens when you hit an uninsured driver? My girlfriend rear-ended an uninsured driver today. They exchanged phone numbers but did not file a police report, nor has she given him her insurance information yet. The damage to both cars was fairly minor. What are her options at this point, and what penalty, if any, will the uninsured driver face if the accident is reported? We live in Washington state.

Grace Period for Pre-Existing Conditions After Being Uninsured?

WCityMike — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:31:29 -0800

In Illinois, or nationwide, is there a policy or law that says that if you become uninsured, but resume health coverage within X number of days, you do not need to worry about pre-existing conditions? Right now, I know that if you go from one job to another continuously, you do not need to worry about pre-existing conditions with your new health insurance.

I remember someone -- I want to say it was someone involved in the healthcare industry, perhaps even an insurance company customer service rep -- telling me that there was a law (either statewide in Illinois, or federally) stating that if you resume coverage within a certain number of days, you don't need to worry about the new company denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

I understand COBRA, but the premium in question is unfortunately too costly for me to take advantage of, given present financial circumstances, and I am similarly not in a situation where I can borrow the amount in question.

Although answers relating to obtaining temporary health coverage would not necessarily be unhelpful, my concern is more the original question. I have Googled for it, but must not be using the right combination of search terms, as I'm getting nothing.