Because she worked for a State Hostpital, the x-girlfriend was required by law to treat every patient that walked through the door, including giving them all the medicine they needed, within reason.
The rub was, they had to prove they couldn’t pay. This was actually quite simple - it required filling out a 2-page form, and simply stating who you were, SSN, residence, etc. No additional paperwork was needed. And, of course, you didn’t have to fill it out before treatment if you were in on an emergency, or unable to fill it out. They weren’t cruel.
Some people would simply refuse to fill the form out, and leave, still sick. No one knows why, but they simply would not. So they didn’t get treated. Some would take their medicine and sell it. She personally witnessed this many times - someone would take their medicine with them - a two-week’s supply - and return an hour later, saying they “lost it”. This would happen every couple of days or so. The security guard caught a woman selling insulin of all things in the parking lot.
The ironic thing is that the people she was selling it to could have walked through the door, filled out a form, waited a couple hours, and got it for free. But they didn’t want to.
And sure, it’s different from State to State. And county to county. And city to city. Thus, generalizing about these things is not possible under 50 different systems.
Guin, I thought you were in college - don’t most colleges have a decent student health plan? I know that mine sure did, but this is likely different all over the US as well.
While possibly lethal if ingested, I would submit that anyone who found a sticky, smelly, burning substance on their hands and licked it off and swallowed it was probably angling for a Darwin Award in the first place.
Obviously, a pet that licked itself in an attempt to clean off the glop should not be penalized with a Darwin Award, but one has to really hassle a millipede to get it to secrete its defense goop.
When I got cellulitis four years ago, I was working, but uninsured. I went to my podiatrist (it was on my foot). I was willing to pay for his services in cash-- he refused to treat me and told me to go to an emergency room.
To make a very long and painful story short-- I went to a municipal hospital where there is a sliding scale fee schedule. I still had to beg the surgeon not to admit me because sliding scale or not, there was no way on Earth I could have paid for it. So, I got adequate care. Not what the doctors thought would be best, yet I survived with all my limbs. And a debt that I have only just finished paying off. Now, if sepsis had set in while I lay in bed at home instead of the hospital it could have turned out a whole lot worse.
pkbites, the reason it was above your normal copay is because it’s probably not listed on your insurance company’s formulary. (Which is a list of commonly used/pre-approved drugs.) Usually they will have a list of drugs that are accepted, but due to cost are not “covered”, per se. This probably fell in that category.
Then there are some things that they just won’t pay for. (You’d be suprised how many drug companies will not pay for medications for HIV, infertility and a variety of other things.)
One of the girls I work with (well, I say girl. She’s 74.) gets a bottle of medication every month. 30 pills cost over $2700. Scary, huh? Luckily (and shockingly) her military insurance covers it. (They’re not usually willing to pay for much.)
I’m glad your son is ok. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Count me in-- We haven’t had insurance since December of last year. Since then I have only had to take myson to the doctor as he had a UTI. My two daughters haven’t seen a doctor other than for routine check-ups in over two years. Lucky we are such a healthy bunch.
In 1991 I went to see an alergist. He told me that although I had very good insurance, it wouldn’t cover all of his fees and that he didn’t want to treat me. When I told him I would pay for what the insurance didn’t, he scoffed and sent me packing. The fucker.
What really pisses me off is, I was making 47k/year back then, which, according to the inflation calculator, is like making 61k now.
I was able to pay whatever the insurance wouldn’t. Another thing, even the best insurance doesn’t pay EVERYTHING. Co-pay of some kind is almost always required. Who the fuck did that doctor expect to treat, anyway?
