What happens if you don’t have health insurance? What do you do if you can’t afford it and become mentally or psychically unwell?
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I think Obamacare addressed that problem. They do have medical programs for people who can’t afford health care - Medicaid, and Medicare. I’m not sure how the whole mess works, but the people in the assisted living center where I live get a pretty fair amount of free medical care, but not everything is available. Like with dental care - they will pay for the extraction of bad teeth, but they won’t pay to fill cavities. That’s only true of some places. A great big van came to our assisted living center a week or two ago, and they took x-rays of our teeth. They intend to return and fill our cavities in a month or two. I have a broken tooth, and the dentist said they were going to cap it with a filling. Also, they say that they don’t pay for dentures, but there usually is somebody around who will - some agency or charity organization. I don’t know how it works for things like operations for people with a medical condition like cancer, or something like that. The way I feel about it, is that if I had advanced cancer, and the prognosis wasn’t good, I would ask for palliative care. That might be all that is available. I don’t know.
I had no health insurance when first depression and my parents payed all the meds. Now I am the one helping my parents with money when they need because I’m on disability. Oh My I forgot to tell you I’m not from U. S
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If you are from the States and don’t have medical insurance, you are basically screwed.
But there is always Medicaid.
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I think a hospital can not turn you away for not having insurance. I had a bunch of medical debt from when I was going through psychotic break and uninsured. 7 years have passed and these bills are no longer on my credit report.
After my hospitalizations I got treated by pdoc at the country health department for almost no $ because I was dead broke.
The standard mark up is about 500% on medical services without insurance. I once had a procedure done that was billed @ $10,000, and Medicare paid less than $2,000. I guess there is so much bad debt expense In the health care field they can get away with this markup.
Another example: 1 of my inpatient hospital stays was 3 days and I got billed for $9,000.
I’m not as familiar with the US system since I’m from Canada but…in Massachusetts, there is a relatively small financial penalty if you don’t have health insurance. It’s different in other states - there is not a law requiring health insurance. As of 2014 with Obamacare, you are incentivized to carry some form of health insurance (unless the courts overturn it or it is repealed). Meaning you will pay a financial penalty if you don’t.
Regarding your last question, if there is a nearby university or post-secondary educational institution or community service center, you may be able to obtain free or reduced-fee services by going through their psychiatry department. These providers are less experienced and are required to gain hours while under the direct supervision of a licensed provider.
Obamacare was a failure. Some things were good I guess and I benefited from those things. I think it is important to have good health insurance.
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Obama care was horrible.
You apply for Medicare or whatever free health insurance your state offers. I’m on Medicare and Medicaid and I live in California. The government offers health insurance to disabled people or low income people.
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