Kids Don't See Doctors When Parents Are Uninsured

In our state, there is no reason not to see a doctor if needed as a child. There is a no child uninsured program that if parents do not have insurance, there is a cheap(free) program for ALL children. I am so sick of the outright lies this moronic aministration is trying to push on the public. Same with the numbers who die due to being uninsured. Considering that every institution that does take federal dollars already must then provide access to their facilities so what may occur is that you will have ruined credit for not paying your bill, or own a ton of money, but you cannot be turned down, or they loose funding. These writers need to research what they write and not expect to pull a fast one on the American public.

Immunizations are offered at the health department as well. Prescriptions are offered for a cut rate at many pharmacies here, if no insurance, it is possible to join their groups-free and get the same $10 copay for a 90 day supply, $3-5 dollar copay for 30 day supply and,....for those who can't afford it, certain pharmacies offer free antibiotics of specific kinds.

So, was I being a bad parent or bad employee when I left work early one day to bring my daughter to a "routine" exam and they found the 8cm tumor in her belly?

I tell them to go buy insurance.

Do the research. The government should stop trying to cover up the fact that there really are affordable choices out there that can and do insure against catastrophic illnesses / accidents.

Routine health maintenance should be handled just like car maintenance. Does your car insurance cover oil changes? Then why must your health insurance cover routine maternity visits? If you can get it as a perk from an employer, great. But if not, pony up, or sign up with a charity or Medicaid if you're destitute. It will cost all of us a lot more if we get socked with a "universal health care" tax.

"What do you tell families who need more than routine medical care and don't have insurance? too bad?"

I tell them, "It happened to my family, and I dealt with it."

Over a year ago, my husband was between jobs (I was, and still am, a SAHM), and we had no health insurance - by choice, mind you - and he was in a car wreck that landed him in the ICU for over a week, and involved nearly a year of physical therapy, prescriptions, etc. To this day, he remains completely blind.

We had no insurance except for the medical that was covered by our car insurance policy, and that was eaten up by LifeFlight transport to the hospital.

And yet, we are NOT bankrupt. We are NOT drowning in medical debt. We are NOT living on the street. We are NOT begging for money.

Why? Because the minute I could get my brain working, I went to the hospital and said, "I have no insurance. I have this much in my savings. These are my assets. How can I pay you for saving my husband's life?"

They worked with me. They helped me sign up for public medical assistance. They worked with the existing insurance I had (that car policy), AND they worked with me to protect the assets I did have, so my family would NOT end up out on the street.

Everybody likes to listen to, and quote, Mr. Obama, et al, when they tell these dire horror stories of people left penniless and diseased to die in the streets. But when you go looking for them, they simply are not there.

Because there is already a system in place. That system may need refining, and it definitely needs streamlining, but it works. What is being proposed is nothing short of disaster - both financial and medical - for this country.

What you people don't get is that we already paid for the uninsured, its called emergency room visits and $12,000 billed to an insurance company for a routine vaginal delivery without complications.

It amazes me how people just don't get that millions of families without insurance are struggling, my husband and I pay $700 a month in insurance premiums and you know what, my hubby is a lawyer, it doesn't make a dent in our income, but it would make a huge dent in the average americans income. Why can't this country make sure that everyone gets insured? If you don't want to take your child in for routine medical care, that is your business, but I know a lot of families with kids born with conditions that if they hadn't had insurance before they were born they are certainly not getting insurance afterwords.

AND I happen to know a family left penniless after mounting medical bills had them lose their home, their daughter contracted leukemia at age 6, and ten years later they are still paying for the bills, they scrimp they save, but they lost it all, it was over a million dollars to save her life, including two bone marrow transplants, my husband was the donor. They even lived with me for a 3 months while they were getting back on their feet. So to walk around saying that those stories are just not out there just tells me that even if they were, you just wouldn't care.

Katty,

We are not unaware of the fact that uninsured people go to the ER on our dime. But we know it would cost a lot more to provide unnecessary "comprehensive care" to all the uninsured. Care that most of us who pay for our own insurance (yes I pay 100%) don't even get, because it would be a waste of our time and money.

Of the 90% of Americans who have health insurance that they are happy with, most would rather foot the bill for uninsured catastrophes than "comprehensively" insure the other 10%, most of whom will never have a "catastrophe."

The way I've always looked at insurance is: if you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to lose by not being insured. So don't cry to me about it. And if you have anything to lose, you'd better do your research and buy some catastrophic insurance (at least) and fight any government attempt to outlaw high-deductible choices. Don't cry to me about it. I have always lived lean but I always chose to buy insurance, because I considered it the responsible choice. It's not that I don't care about the trials of others. It's more accurate to say that the uninsured don't care about burdening me.

The American public is going to foot the bill for a catastrophic medical situation either way - whether as part of an insurance pool, or as taxpayers supporting Medicaid etc. But the difference is, right now that cost is manageable. If the government turns it into a mandatory, comprehensive, government-administered nightmare, the costs will multiply. And it will still be "heartless" people like me paying for it - we'll just be paying a lot more.

"I am a single mother of 2 children and I do not have health coverage . My children do but , My son has a vision problem in which he goes to therapy once a week for ! His vision care does not cover these visits and i have searched every avenue in our state to help with these bills ! "

I'm not heartless, I sympathize with your situation. But the problem isn't health coverage as your children already have it, there is no guarantee a government health plan would cover it either. Or that they would provide the same treatment he's getting now. You say you've looked at every avenue in the state, but have you checked non-government options like nonprofit organizations? Is your hospital aware of your current financial difficulties? As someone else pointed out hospitals will try to work with you.


"Thier is nothing if I made less money I could get gov. assistance , but could not afford my home and bills."

I find it ironic how the government penalizes you and others like you for for your hard work. Another failure of government in action. And just another reason not to give them more power. Why should we give them more responsibilities over the lives of private citizens?

No one said life is easy. But we can't trust a fallible human institution, such as the government, to take care of all our personal health needs. Not knowing you, the best advice I can give is to manage your money well. There are people out there who are willing to help you- a good place to check may be your local Lions club for assistance. God bless!