So, if you couldn’t tell from some of my board-flooding posts recently that I’ve moved to Colorado. Quite a change from the busy city life of Chicago. A lot’s different and a lot I’m still getting accustomed to. More importantly, I’m learning a ton about the differences between the states… it’s like night and day.
Just like the other day when I was moving furniture, hurt my back, and casually went on my way thinking “if it gets worse, ill just see a doctor”. My big-city intellect led me to believe that they would have a free doctor’s clinic to see me if things did get bad since I’m still getting my health insurance in order (eventually)
I asked a co-worker who looked at me dumbfounded. He explained that they don’t have those… or at least he doesn’t think they do.
Since then I came down with a quick bug and it scared me knowing I don’t have a safety net.
So can someone break this down for me? I would imagine that these free medical clinics are somewhat financially dependent on the government. Why illinois and not Colorado?
But most importantly! What are my choices without insurance if I were to get sick again???
Welcome, literally, to my world: the Emergency Department.
There is no national structure for “free” medical care. The why is way beyond the scope here.
As a practical matter, the choices of the uninsured are:
Try to qualify for government insurance–Medicaid, for instance, which varies by state.
Try to find a “free” clinic. Good luck; there are such things, but no structure for them, and they tend to be…well, anyway…good luck.
Try to find a “free” doctor–i.e. someone who will do the doctoring part without charging you. There are still the problems of paying for medicines and tests.
Pay cash. Tends to be a silly strategy b/c on average the lack thereof is why you are looking for free care.
Try not to need care. Not quite as useless as it sounds; most stuff such as back pain and ordinary infections gets better on its own.
(I beg of you to note this is a last resort) Go to the Emergency Department. They–we–are under an obligation to diagnose you and give you some sort of initial care without regard to your ability to pay. Note that this does NOT mean you will not be charged for the care. It’s not free care. It’s care without any guarantee to the ED that you will pay the bill. As a practical matter how aggressively the collection of that bill is pursued is extremely variable.
Not quite as useless as it sounds; most stuff such as back pain and ordinary infections gets better on its own.