No Insurance? Read this! | Arthritis Information

Hi Everyone,

So a brief history of me. I got very sick in 2006 and was out of work until Feb 2009. Took 1 1/2 years to diagnos me w/ RA (still bitter about that), and I was practically bed ridden much of that time.

Eventually I found Enbrel and physical therapy, which has helped me to get back on my feet where I live by myself and have a full time job as a manager. I live in a fourth floor apt w/ no elevator, and the closest family over 1100 miles away. So while I am not 100%, and am constantly reminded I have RA, I am back in society. (with no social life).

The reason for my post is to tell what I did without insurance when I was unemployed and at my worst. I had cobra for a little bit, but that ran out in 2007. I was seeing a lot of doctors, no insurance, and concerned about medical bills. One of the doctors I owed a bill to mentioned that the county I lived in offered help for people with chronic medical conditions.

So I was able to apply. It was very simple. I met the requirements b/c I had no income (although I think you can have a small income), NO insurance (which is important), and had a chronic medical condition that I could provide proof of w/ a doctor's note.

Once I was approved all my doctor's visits (regardless if it was a rheumatologist or not) was covered. All my labwork was covered. My X-rays were covered. I even ended up in the emergency room once, and it was covered.

The program had participating doctors in all areas. So it was dictated which Rheumatologist, dermatologist, emergency room, lab for bloodwork, etc I could go to. But they were normal places that participated. Not back alleys.

My prescriptions were not covered. However, I qualified for assistance w/ RXCrossroads for Enbrel and another program is Rx Outreach for other meds. There's more than one program like that to get good discounts on prescriptions. Many times the manufacturer will provide assistance (sometimes even free) for meds you take if you qualify.

Bottom line, if you are struggling financially and have no insurance, I would suggest calling your local county government (this is for US only) and ask if they have a program for people who have chronic health conditions with no health insurance. This was so helpful for me, and I hope it can be helpful for you too.

Nori

I am glad you found the help you needed and very happy you found employment. That is what programs like that one meant to do. Sorta like gap insurance. This is a great country we live in.

Lisa

Great post! And I'm glad things are on the upswing for you!Thank you. My hope is that even one person can find a program like this in their area. I found out my county offered it just by chance, and it saved me literally thousands of dollars. It's not like someone gives you a handbook of what to do when you are too sick to work w/ no money. I lucked out with this program.

Nori

[QUOTE=nori king]Thank you. My hope is that even one person can find a program like this in their area. I found out my county offered it just by chance, and it saved me literally thousands of dollars. It's not like someone gives you a handbook of what to do when you are too sick to work w/ no money. I lucked out with this program. I'm glad to hear it. I'm glad you brought up the health department, b/c this program was not the health department.

I did try my local health department, and it was awful. Depressing and I still had to pay. This was a special program I qualified for through my county. As I mentioned, my labwork (and I had lots b/c of MTX, etc) and all my doctors appts for any type of doctor was covered and X-rays and emergency room visit. Only scripts weren't covered. I just called a central # and scheduled the appt. If I did not have a chronic health condition, I would not have qualified. Having RA qualified me. I'm sure each county is a bit different. It helped me so much. Oh! and 3 months of physical and occupational therapy was covered, and I was going 4 hours a week!!! This was what got me to the point of being able to enter the work force again. I didn't have to pay anything. And I went to the doctor's normal office with paying patients.

Of course I have been contributing to my taxes for years and years and years. So I was happy to have a program available to me that I feel I 'earned' while I was hard at work from the age of 16!

And while I was using the program for my health, my goal was always to go back to work (which I have). Even when I couldn't even make a fist when I started physical therapy. I think I am exactly who this program is for! I hope someone else suffering from RA who doesn't qualify for medicare or have insurance can benefit from a program like this.

Nori

And I'm sorry to hear that your brother is going through his own health problems. Glad to hear he is getting some support. Sounds terrible.

Nori

Honestly I don't know how those poor people up in cheddarland deal with him. He's immature and often quite rude, and the brain dysfunction from his present conditions really make his unpleasantness 10x worse. My sister and I have to go check on him and/or straighten his attitude out periodically, and smooth things over between him and his med/psych team when he inevitably tells them off. It's like having a 47-year old toddler...

Jasmine,

Never easy to have the responsibilty of a 47 year old toddler. Sorry your brother has himself in such a situation. Never easy on anyone.Nori, you're saying this happened in the United States? How can it be, everyone knows that this is the land where we let our sick and uninsured die in the streets. Isn't that the whole reason we need Obama to swoop in and save us all? You MUST be making it up [QUOTE=Linncn]Nori, you're saying this happened in the United States? How can it be, everyone knows that this is the land where we let our sick and uninsured die in the streets. Isn't that the whole reason we need Obama to swoop in and save us all? You MUST be making it up [QUOTE=Linncn]Nori, you're saying this happened in the United States? How can it be, everyone knows that this is the land where we let our sick and uninsured die in the streets. Isn't that the whole reason we need Obama to swoop in and save us all? You MUST be making it up Yes. I was surprised about the program. And had I not experienced it myself, I would have thought it was too good to be true.

I think this is a case where I was 'poor' enough and sick enough to qualify for quite a lot. And hearing the story about the bill being forgiven due to income level just reinforces that there are often options that we just don't think to ask about. I was even paying high price pharmacy prices when I got it so much cheaper at Costco and Sams. And you don't have to be a member!

I repeat. Don't make the mistake I made with prescriptions if no insurance. If you have to go to a pharmacy, call around for the best price. It can be dramatically different. I often found Costco and Sams was MUCH cheaper than places like CVS, Walgreens, etc. I can't tell you how much extra money I spent.

One thing that is upsetting is that my doctor was reluctant to put me on a biological b/c of the cost, but it turned out I qulaified for a program that covered the drug completely while I was unemployed. RxCrossroads. She delayed me getting the drug, which was so stupid. I had to beg for Enbrel and told her I was willing to go into debt for the drug if it would help. And it did help to the point I was able to work again. How ironic. But I guess I'm going off on a tangent.

So I was in Georgia when I was part of this program. B/c it was through the county, I was not under the impression it was based on a charity. This was through the gov't.

As I mentioned, I heard about this at a doctor's office. I would suggest finding out what programs are available to you in your area or even the drug your on, etc. If you are unemployed b/c you have RA there's got to be help out there like I found. Less medical costs helped lower stress, which got me back on my feet.

Nori

Oh. One of my best friends lives in London, and we have compared for years (prior to and during me getting RA) US and England health care. We both feel England is so much better. And there is a misperception that the Brits have to wait a long time to see a doctor, etc. This simply is not true. Especially compared to how long I've had to wait to see specialists - when I had insurance!!!!

Nori