What happens in the US if you need treatment but have no health insurance?

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, Watercooledguy said:

I am in this very situation right now. I can't get on my wife's insurance through her work till Nov. and I have high blood pressure. I had to stay on my medicine so I paid 330 bucks to go to a Dr. and tell him I needed blood pressure medication. He looked at my chart and said, where do you want me to call the prescription in for you? That's literally all he did, 15 sec. of work and his office made 330 bucks. Thank sweet baby Jesus that my pills aren't expensive. 

Well generally you have to be seen at least yearly for them to make sure they are working. Im on Lisinopril and thats the thing, I see my doctor once a year. She checks my blood pressure and my blood work. They have to dial blood pressure medication in. And somethings it takes a while. I used to be on a different medication but it caused loss of sodium. I was probably on that first medication for 6 months, then she tried me on a combo medication, which wasn't any better for the sodium. Then straight Lisinopril, which practically my entire family takes. 

[Watercooledguy]

Just now, Donut417 said:

Well generally you have to be seen at least yearly for them to make sure they are working. Im on Lisinopril and thats the thing, I see my doctor once a year. She checks my blood pressure and my blood work. They have to dial blood pressure medication in. And somethings it takes a while. I used to be on a different medication but it caused loss of sodium. I was probably on that first medication for 6 months, then she tried me on a combo medication, which wasn't any better for the sodium. Then straight Lisinopril, which practically my entire family takes. 

I've been on Lisinopril for 5yrs. I update my chart weekly with blood pressure and heart rate readings taken here at home. Due to covid, we were doing virtual Dr. visits which didn't cost me anything but I had to go in anyways because I was running out of refills and had to go to a Dr. so he could evalutate my chart and I could get new refills called in. They set me up for 4 90 day refills last year on my Dr. visit but I had insurance then and it only cost 56 bucks instead of 330. So I was forced to go to the Dr. with no insurance this time just so I could continue to take my medicine. 

[Actual_Criminal]

3 hours ago, Watercooledguy said:

I've been on Lisinopril for 5yrs. I update my chart weekly with blood pressure and heart rate readings taken here at home. Due to covid, we were doing virtual Dr. visits which didn't cost me anything but I had to go in anyways because I was running out of refills and had to go to a Dr. so he could evalutate my chart and I could get new refills called in. They set me up for 4 90 day refills last year on my Dr. visit but I had insurance then and it only cost 56 bucks instead of 330. So I was forced to go to the Dr. with no insurance this time just so I could continue to take my medicine. 

Can't you just take Aspirin? Cheap over the counter in the UK (£1 give or take for 16 tablets.)

[Donut417]

On 7/11/2021 at 4:13 AM, Actual_Criminal said:

Can't you just take Aspirin? Cheap over the counter in the UK (£1 give or take for 16 tablets.)

Blood pressure meds have to be dialed in. Its not like they have dose, Ive seen my meds go down to 5 Mg in the case of my sister but I take 20mg. Also I remember reading something in the news about long term Aspirin use and there could be issues related to that. Also Aspirin use is for heart issues, not necessarily blood pressure. 

[Jay427]

ignore, buggy internet connection

[Jay427]

I dont know why 3 messages are here

[Jay427]

On 12/19/2020 at 9:29 PM, Actual_Criminal said:

In the UK, we have the famous NHS where health care is mostly free.

 

Obviously, in the US you need insurance.

 

So what would happen to a US national if you broke your arm but didn't have insurance? - I imagine they bill you and you pay it off?

 

If so, what if you were a homeless national and had no way to pay it off?

 

Would they ever shrug you away?

https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EMTALA

 

If it is a medical emergency, and they participate with the HHS, it is federal crime to deliberately refuse treatment.  Some states also enforce their own versions of this law.  However, you'll find that hospitals like to play their own little game, and that many in the field do not take the physician's oath of Geneva.

 

My closest friend's father is the director of medicine for where I used to live, and I helped a lot of medical students in the past.  I've also been to hospitals constantly for 10 years now due to numerous physical injuries and disabilities, so maybe I can share some of that experience:

 

What usually happens is this:  people are not informed of these resources unless they have a family or background who has, meaning a lot of people who need service usually do not get it.  Secondly, the most qualified physicians in a field will not practice medicine on someone who is deliberately forcing their hand to treat them when the patient is in a state of enough mental clarity in an emergency to deliberately threaten a doctor and their medical license - time spent on every mock emergency by people taking advantage of forced medical care means that someone else dies if you are the most qualified physician in the area.  This is why better treatment is usually found at private hospitals, which are then profiled as being exclusively for the rich (when they're actually like half of the price or less because all of their staff is more capable, and they don't have to keep wasting time seeing the same patient because they fixed the problem the first time).

 

Going to an HHS sponsored hospital:  You'll find that you get passed along to several colleagues with overly-generalized diagnosis's in order to keep the corporately affiliated hospital and state sponsored staff on payroll.  Your condition never gets cured, and the vague legality of interpreting medicine as an "art" is used to justify and dismiss any legality concerns for a misdiagnosis.  We used to have the word "Quack" - they still exist, and some clerks gleefully break the law and deliberately overcharge, or put the wrong diagnostic codes and orders into their system, as retaliation against patients, and to generate more revenue from insurance.  They know you will not be able to pay it off, so low quality hospitals will take advantage of this by deliberately overcharging to make sure they get enough from your insurance maximum regardless, and will do it for years regardless of how much you suffer.

 

Going to a private hospital:  They find the real problem, run expensive tests like Arthrograms and contrast dye MRIs to see what the problem really is, and fix you.  This was, and continues to be my experience.  They are obviously very protected by their staff, it is nearly impossible to get an appointment with one of these doctors, and you will not get one without a referral from another.

 

As for shrugging away - yeah, but not outright.  If they're too obvious, they'll get sued, so they give you a legal run-around, canceled appointments, and keep scheduling irrelevant tests as a means to shrug you away: by getting you to give up.

[dalekphalm]

On 7/11/2021 at 4:13 AM, Actual_Criminal said:

Can't you just take Aspirin? Cheap over the counter in the UK (£1 give or take for 16 tablets.)

Please do not suggest to people that they stop taking their medically prescribed medicine and replace it with over the counter medication.

 

That's irresponsible at best. If he could "just take Aspirin", his doctor would have already suggested that long ago.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

On 7/11/2021 at 4:13 AM, Actual_Criminal said:

Can't you just take Aspirin? Cheap over the counter in the UK (£1 give or take for 16 tablets.)

Do not, I repeat, do not take medication substitution suggestions from 'Some guy on a forum about building computers'.

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

Do not, I repeat, do not take medication substitution suggestions from 'Some guy on a forum about building computers'.

Pffffff, you take lifesaving immunosupressant drugs?

 

Nah bruh, you just need to take some Benedryl!

[Actual_Criminal]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Please do not suggest to people that they stop taking their medically prescribed medicine and replace it with over the counter medication.

 

That's irresponsible at best. If he could "just take Aspirin", his doctor would have already suggested that long ago.

Lol, I didn't suggest anything. I purely asked why he couldn't "just take Aspirin", literally asking for the reason why. Completely different from "Oh, you should go and purchase Aspirin as it works just as well as X." ...

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

Lol, I didn't suggest anything. I purely asked why he couldn't "just take Aspirin", literally asking for the reason why. Completely different from "Oh, you should go and purchase Aspirin as it works just as well as X." ...

Why would you ask a question like that?

 

That's like you seeing someone with a busted arm, who says "I need to get a cast", and you're like "Why not just use some twigs and string?"

 

If they could just take aspirin, their doctors would have already suggested that.

[Kid.Lazer]

This topic got a little by the wayside, but as for answering the original question, there is a ton of incorrect information in this thread.

In the US, you cannot be denied healthcare if you can't pay and/or don't have insurance. They are required to service you, particularly for life-threatening issues.

Also, medical bills do NOT affect your credit score. It will go to collections if left unpaid and you will get hounded by collectors, but it will not affect your ability to apply for credit.

Also also, self-pay is by far the cheapest way to pay for any medical service. Medical providers charge insurance companies 2-3 times more than the service actually costs. *Proof: I broke my neck racing earlier this year and had spinal fusion. They performed the operation before any financial details were finalized. They originally billed me at $116k, but it was reduced to $40K after it was listed as self-pay*

[Actual_Criminal]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Why would you ask a question like that?

 

That's like you seeing someone with a busted arm, who says "I need to get a cast", and you're like "Why not just use some twigs and string?"

 

If they could just take aspirin, their doctors would have already suggested that.

I asked it because my Grandmother and numerous other peeps here in the UK get given Aspirin for high-blood pressure (in addition to other things) and was wondering if this med he is taking is some next-level Martin Shkreli tablets.

 

Lol, that's just a bad comparison and you are just creating non-sensical arguments to try and prove your point. A more realistic comparison could be someone with a cut and they get stiches and you ask "Why didn't they use medical grade glue?" (both being approved medical methods like the original topic.) Be sure to take some notes bud  

[Watercooledguy]

On 7/11/2021 at 4:13 AM, Actual_Criminal said:

Can't you just take Aspirin? Cheap over the counter in the UK (£1 give or take for 16 tablets.)

Yeah, I can't just take Asprin. I have to take the medicine the Dr. prescribed for me. Luckily it's not expensive, about a dollar a day. There are other people in this world that have to take medicine that is WAY more expensive than what I have to take. I feel for those people. 

[dalekphalm]

54 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

I asked it because my Grandmother and numerous other peeps here in the UK get given Aspirin for high-blood pressure (in addition to other things) and was wondering if this med he is taking is some next-level Martin Shkreli tablets.

I get the Shkreli thing - but no. Advil and Lisinopril are not similar drugs (though in some scenarios maybe they can be used to treat similar things). I get what you are saying here, but we're not talking about the difference between a Brand Name vs a Generic.

54 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

Lol, that's just a bad comparison and you are just creating non-sensical arguments to try and prove your point. A more realistic comparison could be someone with a cut and they get stiches and you ask "Why didn't they use medical grade glue?" (both being approved medical methods like the original topic.) Be sure to take some notes bud  

No we're not. Medical grade glue and stitches are comparable things.

 

Advil and Lisinopril are not comparable. Some situations might call for Advil as being sufficient. A doctor would of course have considered OTC (Over the counter) medication before going to prescription medication.

 

Aside from that, the OP clearly stated that the doctors visit was the expensive part.

 

TL;DR: If your prescription medication runs low, do not just use OTC medication unless you Doctor has already given you the okay to do so.

 

39 minutes ago, Watercooledguy said:

Yeah, I can't just take Asprin. I have to take the medicine the Dr. prescribed for me. Luckily it's not expensive, about a dollar a day. There are other people in this world that have to take medicine that is WAY more expensive than what I have to take. I feel for those people. 

Nice. The US is kind of weird - some medication is stupidly cheap, others is stupidly expensive.

[Actual_Criminal]

49 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I get the Shkreli thing - but no. Advil and Lisinopril are not similar drugs (though in some scenarios maybe they can be used to treat similar things). I get what you are saying here, but we're not talking about the difference between a Brand Name vs a Generic.

No we're not. Medical grade glue and stitches are comparable things.

 

Advil and Lisinopril are not comparable. Some situations might call for Advil as being sufficient. A doctor would of course have considered OTC (Over the counter) medication before going to prescription medication.

Damn right they are not comparable... I never mentioned Advil (Ibuprofen). I'm referring to ASPIRIN which is a completely separate thing and I should know since I'm allergic to the former!