Going to the Emergency Room with No Health Insurance
I started reading a lot of money blogs after an unfortunate bicycle injury. I remember lying in the middle of an intersection thinking “I don’t want to move”. It was a peaceful moment that felt like time had been put on hold. But shortly after, I heard the commotion of people yelling, saw multiple hands and arms dragging me onto the sidewalk and finally heard that familiar sound that had never been applied to me until this moment. The ambulance.
If you fall within the estimated 25% of gay and lesbians who do not have health insurance, then you can probably feel my pain. I didn’t have health insurance at the time. I had heard so many horror stories of people without health insurance paying insane amounts of money on trips to the Emergency Room. Even though I was bleeding all over the sidewalk and missing a few teeth I said “I’m not getting in there if it will cost me money”. I remember repeating this phrase numerous times, but the paramedics assured me it would be okay and that I really needed to go to the ER. So off I went!
To make a long story short (and after 2 visits to the ER), I had a broken jaw and needed it wired for a few weeks before any work could be done on my teeth. At this point, I was more concerned about how I was going to pay for all of this! Surprisingly, there were some extremely helpful people at the hospital that advised me on financial assistance. I’m sure each hospital is different, so be sure to check your hospital’s website for information.
I applied for my hospital’s “Charity Care” and was approved. This covered the ambulance cost, the ER cost (including x-rays) AND it covered the entire process of getting my jaw wired and back to normal. The only thing it did not include was the Doctor’s fee from the Emergency Room which was frustrating at the time… and well it’s actually still frustrating now because I’m still dealing with it. BUT I am very grateful that everything else was covered because who knows how much all of the jaw work would have cost! (I don’t even want to try to do the math to find out).
If you don’t get approved for Charity Care, there are other ways to receive financial assistance. Another option I tried was applying for Medicaid, but once I heard news of my approval for Charity Care, I did not proceed with the Medicaid.
During the time I was out of work with a broken jaw, I turned to the internet to figure out how to make some extra income and how the heck I was going to afford to fix my teeth (the charity care did not extend to dental work unfortunately). It is during that time that I also found Queercents!
Photo credit: stock.xchng
If you are in New York, there is great Charity Care. However, it’s supposed to be a requirement to apply for any public health insurance (which is part state funded, part federally funded) for which you might be eligible. The Charity Care funds, which are all form the state, should be saved for folks with no other options. I’m glad you got your bills taken care of, but if you are eligible for Medicaid, why not just apply? It’s better to do in in advance of accidents, anyway–in New York, only the lowest-income folks get retroactive coverage to cover past bills.
The Legal Aid Society can help people apply. 212-577-3575 on Tuesdays.
Lynn: We’re glad you found Queercents and even happier that you’re writing with us!
I find with finances, so much is written about life insurance, but the odds are much greater that we will get sick (or have a bike accident!) and become disabled (and be out of work) rather than die prematurely during our primary earning years. Lots to think about here around health insurance and disability insurance. You’re really lucky!
Lynn, you’re really lucky that you were able to get most of your medical costs covered. Your case is a very good example for why we need a national health insurance policy. Here’s hoping that the Democrats can muster the political capitol to get the job done.
I cannot add my partner to my health insurance policy at work. We intentionally decided for her to do part-time contract work in anticipation of adopting a child and wanting her to be a part-time stay-at-home parent. We purchased an individual policy for her that we thought would be sufficient since she’s healthy as a horse….but then her gallbladder stopped working and it took 2 months of tests to convince the doctors that it needed to be removed, and most of those tests and a big chunk of the surgery weren’t covered by her policy. Now we have several thousand dollars of medical bills.
Because I can’t add her to my insurance and we can’t file taxes together and all that, she applied for financial hardship discounts since her contract work income does not allow her to pay these expenses. However, the hospital requires that my income be considered as well, which will then disqualify her.
We will survive the financial hit, mostly because we have savings set aside for adoption that we can use, but the double-standard here is killing us. I can’t insure her, but she can’t apply for financial aid on her own.