What happens to IBD USA citizens without insurances?

[Lady Organic]

I have a question for American people. I often read on the forum testimonies of US people not being able to afford medical visits or medication for crohn's and Ulcerative colitis. This is beyond my comprehension because here in Canada, everyone has access to the universal health care system equally.

So what happens to people on welfare, poor or homeless people when they suffer from a chronic illness in the USA? Are they just left aside and reduced to possible early death with the disease? I know Obama has implemented a health care plan, but I believe still not everyone is covered. can these people go to a emergency hospital and be treated with a fallow up for free? I'd like to have clarification!

Without treatment and medication to stop my colitis when I flare, it is for sure I would lose my colon and then die. That is quite obvious to me. some people can live with chronic ongoing symptoms for years, but for others, the degradation of disease is so fast and aggressive, the organs can be destroyed rapidly. I could not imagine myself living today if I had not been treated back in 2001 or any other times when I flared after. when i flare, there's simply no turn around without medication and the situation keeps aggravating. How do these people do without insurance do in the US???

 

[my little penguin]

If you are on welfare you qualify for Medicaid ( government covered insurance at little or no cost )
If you qualify for social security disability due to crohns etc .., thrn you get Medicaid

If your lower income then kids can qualify for state aid
Also kids in general regardless of parents income with certain chronic illnesses can qualify for state aid ( insurance )


It's not the very poor or middle class but those who are above poverty level that have a harder time getting insurance .
Obama care is suppose to help fill those gaps to all those obtain insurance at a much lower rate .

 

[my little penguin]

Also no er can turn some one away due to lack of insurance until they are deemed stable

 

[Kero]

Lady Organic,

Have you watched the Micheal Moore documentary, Sicko? Well worth a watch if you haven't. I know Obama has tried to improve healthcare and insurance since the documentary, but it is still quite broken as far as I know

 

[Robrich]

It's expensive f you don't qualify for Medicaid or gvt. subsidy.
One can expect to be out of pocket 5-6k/yr including premiums before the nsurance kicks in. But hey at least they now have to accept you.
USA is the only developed country without universal health care and the drug companies and health care corporations are sucking us dry!
Fortunately I am now n Medicare which is great. It should be expanded to everyone and then squeeze the big corporations on costs, but they own all the politicians and write the laws, Really!
ON the other hand I have great doctors

 

[Ihurt]

Your pretty much screwed sadly. Like someone else mentioned, it is more the middle class that really suffer. I have insurance and lately they are refusing to pay for many things. I think when Obamacare passed, well it hit the insurance companies hard and now the insurance companies are denying payment for many things. My husband has been having awful issues with fatigue, daytime sleepiness, brain fog regardless of adequate sleep. Well his dad has sleep apnea so our doctor wanted him tested. At first the insurance company told me they would cover it. He had the study done and now they are saying they are not going to cover it because they do not feel it was needed!!! Oh, and by the way, he tested positive for mild to moderate sleep apnea! I am now fighting the insurance company to cover this test otherwise we will have to pay upwards to well over $2000!!!!

If you are on Medicaid ( which I might add, you have to be making less than 19,000 a year in order to qualify) then the state will cover you, though you only have a limited amount of physicians who you can see. If you have No job then you can likely get some Aide, but if you are working( even hardly making ends meat), you will be denied Aide 9 times out of 10. Here in the United States if you are unfortunate enough to come down with a chronic illness, you are not in a good place. I have known people who have lost everything due to medical expenses( their house, car, everything!) and that was with health insurance. My yearly deductible that has to be met before my insurance will cover most things is $2,5000 per person with a total of $5000 for my whole family. Also, like I said, just because you have insurance does not mean they will pay. My very close friend is suffering from C-diff and had to get a prescription for the drug Dificid. The cost of the drug with no insurance is about $9790 for a 2 week treatment. Yep, you read that right. Her insurance at first denied coverage for it. Her doctor had to fight it and they finally covered a 2 week course. Unfortunately she is still sick with the C-diff again. She already took Vancomycin( which she had to pay $700 for) and that messed her up even more and did not work. She then took Dificid and she is still sick. Next she is looking into finding a way to get a fecal transplant. No way insurance will ever cover that I am sure.

There are good things and bad things about health care in every country I guess. My friend who is from Europe said it is not the best over there because you have to wait forever to even get in to see a doctor or have any test, sometimes months. Over here you can get in to see someone relatively quickly, but they will rob you with the cost of things.

 

[afidz]

Ihurt it depends on the state you live in if you qualify for medicare. In Texas you have to either be deemed disabled or pregnant to get medicare. They do not help with low income. and the kicker...if you make under 11k a year, you don't qualify for help from obamacare. I haven't been able to work for 3.5 years, was denied disability at the hearing level and have to pay FULL price for my health insurance WITH a $6600 yearly deductible.

This conversation can get very political very fast so I am choosing my words wisely. Obama has the right idea with good intentions. He is the first president to try to shift America towards pubic health care. I am able to have insurance on my own with no preexisting conditions. Its going to take years before anything really gets going. Obama laid the ground work, hopefully the next president will continue to improve the system and one day America can have a public health care system

 

[penhow45]

It's expensive f you don't qualify for Medicaid or gvt. subsidy.
One can expect to be out of pocket 5-6k/yr including premiums before the nsurance kicks in. But hey at least they now have to accept you.
USA is the only developed country without universal health care and the drug companies and health care corporations are sucking us dry!
Fortunately I am now n Medicare which is great. It should be expanded to everyone and then squeeze the big corporations on costs, but they own all the politicians and write the laws, Really!
ON the other hand I have great doctors

Robrich....right on! i have medicare as well. my Humira costing well over$4000/mth!!!! unfortunately, my 19 yaer old daughter as well...her medical options are terrible!!! she could get medicaid...but those gi docs are overworked,underpaid and usually their offices are hours away from home. she doesnt make enough money for obamacare...so, at this point, we are praying she doesnt have a flare up. maybe we should move to Canada!!!!

 

[shamrock15]

Don't assume that just because it is paid for that the care is always great quality. We have huge wait lists here in Canada (well, I can honestly only say that for my local area) that can have a huge impact on the course and success of treatment. My last round of surgeries almost 10 years ago is a perfect example. I had already been on pred for a year and unable to go below 20 mg a day. I had dilatations twice that had both failed. In February of that year my GI acknowledged that surgery was the only option. Despite all the factors, it was going to be 4 months before I could talk to the surgeon with an anticipated surgery date another 4 months down the road. I made it to July before realising that this just couldn't work. I intentionally ate food that would aggravate things to speed up the process (risky move). The effect of 1.5 years of pred at that point caused sutures in the surgery to pull through and I became the proud owner of a bag for 4 months.

My sister lives in the States, and has never had to wait for any length of time for any procedure. Her children have had issues requiring foot surgery that have been resolved start to finish in under 10 days. She would have needed to wait probably close to 2 years for the same type of surgery here. I will also state though that without our social system I probably wouldn't be alive to type this. As someone up there has posted, good and bad to each system. And pen - normally at least a 3 month exclusion period for any newcomers!

 

[Ihurt]

Oh I agree with you, I also think Obama had the right idea in mind for sure. I also think it is great that they are offering people health care that could not get it before due to pre-existing conditions. I know it needs some tweeking but at least it is a start. Hopefully one day they will find that happy medium and we will have a great health care system.

Ihurt it depends on the state you live in if you qualify for medicare. In Texas you have to either be deemed disabled or pregnant to get medicare. They do not help with low income. and the kicker...if you make under 11k a year, you don't qualify for help from obamacare. I haven't been able to work for 3.5 years, was denied disability at the hearing level and have to pay FULL price for my health insurance WITH a $6600 yearly deductible.

This conversation can get very political very fast so I am choosing my words wisely. Obama has the right idea with good intentions. He is the first president to try to shift America towards pubic health care. I am able to have insurance on my own with no preexisting conditions. Its going to take years before anything really gets going. Obama laid the ground work, hopefully the next president will continue to improve the system and one day America can have a public health care system

 

[afidz]

I am starting my new job tomorrow, great benefits. I am STOKED that for the first time in a long time, when January 1st comes round, I will have group insurance.