Living without health care

[Nightwing]

I suffered a very serious permanent injury at my job in 1999 and just recently my wife and I learned that our health care benefits are gone. We met yesterday with a woman at Ohio's job and family services department and were told that in Ohio, hundreds of thousands of people working have lost their health insurance too and it's all thanks to cuts at the Fed and State level. I'm certain such practices arent isolated to Ohio, but how do you live without health care?

Just looking for suggestions as to how to either fight this or find a decent health care plan for myself and wife. Both of us are older with various health issues and problems, I may have cancer but have no way to find out for certain without insurance. Doctors wont touch me. Any help would be most appreciated and thanks in advance.

One more thing, and excuse my language but fuck Bush, Taft and the horse they rode in on!!

[blogbear]

1. I don't think you need to have your language excused because it

is universally spoken anymore..I'm sorry for what you are facing and hope that helpful answers will come your way. Somehow I had thought of American healthcare as amounting to more than just a bitter pill..

[HeeBGBz]

2. You try to ignore all the symptoms until you can't

Then you go to the emergency room of a hospital that can't refuse you treatment. Then you go into major debt and play "avoid the collection agency phone calls".

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Look around

there may be clinics/nonprofit foundations that will see you and either let you pay as you go or make out a payment plan. Check out also integrative medicine, where MDs practice conventional medicine as well as using herbs, homeopathic remedies, touch therapies, etc. Why go to these kind of docs? Because they use the least intrusive method of healing (and they are into healing, not just treating symptoms). They can give you a diet that is right for you and one that can help keep you healthy-and sometimes this helps with chronic problems. We haven't had medical insurance since 2003. My husband has serious medical problems, and they have been kept under control and we haven't busted our bank account because we have found a doctor who has a nonprofit foundation and works as described above. You may wish to check out American Holistic Medical Association to see if there is someone in your area doing this type of practice. Check them out, see if they take in patients without insurance.

Good luck.

[cap]

4. attorney with workmen's comp

experience?

[Aunt Anti-bush]

5. First find a free or low cost clinic...

That's not always so easy. I'm almost in the same position as you are. We lost our healthcare about 2 years ago just after I was told I may have cancer. I have looked into every avenue of getting help but always to no avail. You may want to look into the Hill Burton Act, which is supposed to help people to pay for catastrophic medical needs.

After 2 years of asking every medical professional, hospital and helpline where I can find a low cost clinic, I finally found one when a massage therapist recently told me where to call. It is rediculous, they are hidden and almost secretive. I haven't called yet to find out if I can go or not, because I am afraid they'll tell me what all the rest have told me. Our income is decent so we don't qualify for anything. The only problem is we have debt to pay (secured) so we don't have even 2 pennies to rub together at the end of the month.

The best thing I think any of us can do is to write to our politicians and keep ourselves informed about the fight to get healtcare for Americans. You might want to visit
http://democraticleader.house.gov/issues/health_care/index.cfm
to get some information on what house democrats are trying to do to fix this crisis. I write letters, send e-mails, make phone calls and sign petitions showing my support of their efforts.

Most of all, just remember that you are not alone. We are becoming the majority, people with no healthcare. The most important thing I think we can do is to send a strong message to our leaders that we wont stand for this anymore!

[Vinca]

6. Sorry to say, all the suggestions in the world will amount to Jack Squat

when the bills come in. I've just recovered - with only one doctor's visit and no surgery - from an extremely painful case of gallstones which resulted in pancreatitis. The night it hit, I thought I was going to die and, as I later learned, I could have. But what did I do? I soldiered on through the pain because I didn't want to rack up medical bills. Then I waited for a week to see a gastroenterologist. Then I made my pathetic case for care without insurance and he agreed to "wait and see" rather than immediately admit me for surgery. So far so good. Yesterday I was thinking about Andy and how wonderful it was our community banded together to get his surgery underway, but I also wonder how many other Andys are out there without a support system of tens of thousands. I'm thinking we need to take to the streets over this. Maybe a "million uninsured" demonstration in Washington.

[Just Me]

7. If it's of any comfort to you, there's tens of millions of us having the,.

,...same experience. I lost my income and my health insurance while seeing an oncologist. Tests were "inconclusive" on whether or not luekemia was in my body. I tried to find someone who would follow-up on that testing via community health clinics and whatever non-profit groups I could locate via internet. I hope you have better luck than I did. I recently (finally) acquired employment and health insurance. A big chunk of my pay is now going to cover another series of tests.

Living in this country is tough. Good people are suffering, everyday.