This story made headlines recently. An unemployed24-year old man without health insurance died after a tooth infection spread to his brain because he couldn’t afford treatment. His death could have been prevented if he’d gone to a dentist and had the preventative care he needed. But he didn’t have insurance so he ‘toughed it out’ until the pain became so bad that he was forced to go to the ER. The doctor gave him prescriptions for pain medicine and antibiotics. He could only afford to fill one prescription, and unfortunately chose the pain killer.
After my 90 day probationary period I can qualify for health insurance if I am working at least 30 hours a week. I haven’t had health insurance for over 2 years now. No health insurance, no health care. I haven’t been to the dentist in almost 3-years, haven’t had an annual physical, haven’t had my vision checked. This isn’t because I’m the very picture of health! I have a broken molar and I know my glasses prescription is out of date because I have to take them off to see anything close up. I test my blood pressure at those machines at the pharmacists – it’s moderately high, not as bad as it would be if I didn’t have my blood pressure medicine. A $40, 15- minute appointment with my doctor every 6 months or so buys me a refill of the medicine that costs $50 for a 3-month supply. I’m lucky that the medicines I take are generic and not overly expensive. If I wanted to fill my prescription for migraine relief it would be $109 for 6 pills. That’s a pain that I just tough out.
According to a recent piece in the New York Times, the Commonwealth Fund’s latest biennial health insurance survey found that nine million working-age adults who lost their jobs between 2008 and 2010 became uninsured.
“Most of those could not find affordable coverage from insurance companies, and some were turned down when they applied. Of that number, nearly three-quarters delayed needed care because of the cost. They were sick but did not visit a doctor, or chose not to fill a prescription, or skipped a recommended test, treatment or visit to a specialist.
Nearly three-quarters had problems paying medical bills when they did visit a doctor or a hospital. They used up their savings, struggled to pay medical debts over time, took out loans when they could, declared bankruptcy or ended up unable to pay for other basic necessities like food or housing.”
Healthcare is expensive. If you’ve ever had any tests or hospitalizations and gotten the bill (even if paid by your insurance) the amount can be heart stopping and unbelievable. In March 2009 I was on my way home from Colorado where I’d attended a court hearing to remove the squatter in our home (too late to save it from foreclosure), driving a rental truck with our recovered possessions through a snow storm somewhere near Vail when my phone rang. It was the kids’ school – telling me through static that my son had been taken to the hospital. That’s about all I heard before the call dropped out. Hours of tense white-knuckled driving got me through the storm to a place with cell coverage and I finally got the full story. My son, then in kindergarten, had choked on something in the classroom and the school had called 911. Even though he had swallowed the object by the time the ambulance got there they took him to the hospital anyway. There he had an x-ray and was pronounced fine. The 2-mile ambulance ride alone cost over $1200. I had insurance at that point but they declined to cover the ambulance saying that the situation was not an emergency, and thus not covered. Insurance like that, or no insurance at all, kind of forces you to play the part of your own doctor.
You know that unemployed fellow with a killer toothache that I mentioned at the beginning of this post? Believe it or not, he’s not the only one. In March of this year Mark Erdman also suffered a toothache and being without insurance treated it himself with increasing amounts of over the counter pain killers. The acetaminophen and ibuprofen caused liver and kidney damage – so much damage that he wasn’t going to live without an organ transplant. The hospital told his wife it would cost $195,000 to do the transplant and that they required half that amount up front. The family didn’t have the money and by the time they had gotten Medicaid coverage, Mark had suffered brain damage, making him ineligible for a transplant. He was removed from life support and died shortly thereafter.
I would really like to have health insurance again. And I can, in early October, if I ‘m working 30 hours a week by then. I can work 30 hours a week as soon as I can afford childcare for my two youngest children in the after school program. Of course that’s the catch-22 – I can’t afford the nearly $400 upfront costs ($130 annual registration fee and two weeks of care at $129 a week) without working more hours! This is the merry-go-round I ride at night as I lie in bed, always in sight of the next horse, so close but never catching up to it, wondering how to make it all work, reaching for another Aleve for my aching, broken molar.
I am not aware if the program exists in California, but here in the southern tier of NY, once a year you can get free dental treatment, all that can be performed in one single visit is done for free on a first come first served basis. Something like that maybe good. Of course, it means you cannot work on that day because you have to go early and wait in order to have a chance of seeing the dentist. It is called”doctors with a heart day”
http://owegopennysaver.com/index.php/2011/08/29/doctors-with-a-heart-day-to-assist-with-urgent-dental-needs/
good luck with your tooth,
They have a twice yearly free clinic for kids (which we’ve attended) locally where they clean, x-ray and do flouride treatments. But they don’t do any fillings or other work so it’s really just preventative. Very nice folks though and each kid gets a free toothbrush & toothpaste. I know of a free dental clinic for adults provided by the Salvation Army in a nearby town but you don’t go that morning – if you want a chance to be seen you have to sleep on the pavement overnight. There was a story about it in our newspaper a year ago.
This young man was from my area and left behind young children. I have very minimal insurance coverage, which I pay for myself,no dental or vision. I take my son to the dentist but unfortunately the funds aren’t there for me. However, I would go if I were in a serious situation, even if I had to charge it. I am sure prevention is the best option and I do try to take very good care of my teeth at home.
What if you have no credit cards? Then you can’t charge it.
It is very tough not having adequate health insurance. I have no vision and dental and both those areas suffer in my life. To get an eye exam and new glasses or contacts is about $500. To get my teeth just cleaned and exrayed is about $300. And I am suppossed to do that twice a year (the teeth.) That is out of the question. I usually can swing once a year either dentist or eye doctor. Last year I did dentist, amd am suppossed to do eyes this year but do not have the money.
My youngest son also has what amounts to no insurance at this time (his dad is required to carry insurance on him and he choose a plan with a $3,000 deductable before any benefits kick in.) So every time I take him to doctor or dentist or allergist (he has asma and allergies) I pay cash. I am all caught up except I owe his dentist $217. I can’t take him back for another check up until that is paid off (and he is due for his 6 month cleaning.)
It is all very frustrating!!!
My plan is to use any tax refund for any medical bills due and me going to eye doctor and hopefully dentist. I also may try to find one of those dental clinics I hear about.
My thirty-four yeal old daughter does not have insurace, and she has graves disease and a rare form of hemophilia that affects females. i found out that when she had an infection a few weeks ago, she went to a local coop (feed store) and said she had a dog that had a bad infection and they told her to get an antiobiotic, which they sold to her and she took the animal antibiotic she said, mom that is what my friends and i do…we have no insurance. i contacted our family doctor and told them to let her see the doctor and that i would oay her bill.
i recently found out one of the grad students ran out of food and was living on condiments that she was stealing from an area Hardees. I took her food to get her through the next few weeks
For the first time in a year, my husband and i are both working and have good insurance, but we have not always been so fortunate. I got new glasses for the first time in years
so the moral of my comment is that medical care should bbe a basic right and free to all and you or my daughter or my husband I should have that right.
I am happy you are back to work, and I hope you get back on your feet soon.
How sad. I remember a similar story (about an abscessed tooth) leading to a child’s death some years back. What a crazy country we live in.
Do you have a dental school anywhere around you? I realize fitting in appointments may be difficult to impossible, but that can be one place where even difficult dental problems can be addressed (sometimes) at low cost in the US (or are you close enough that travel to Mexico would be an option? I have family in Europe and have more than once considered dental tourism on a trip to visit them, though I’ve yet to do so — I’d bet there are good, and affordable, dentists there, though with your financial, family, and car situations the travel may be impossible. Sorry, just thinking out loud here.).
Besides the other issues you mention, in many US states it’s literally not possible to buy medical insurance even if you can afford it, if you’re not perfectly healthy and don’t have access to (employer-provided) group coverage. We went through this with one of my stepkids, where we had to pay vast amounts for Cobra coverage (which, fortunately, was an option) after said kid aged off our policy, because a chronic (but far from life-threatening) condition meant no one would sell an individual policy at any price.
Hello — It’s worth noting that it’s not insurance these people lacked, but employer-subsidized insurance. Or, if you’d rather, government-subsized insurance. I pay for my own insurance so I’m always aware of this difference! Insurance you pay for yourself is just risk-hedging.
Also, when my family had employer-provided insurance, they didn’t cover dental. Not vision, either. These were good companies, they were just small & couldn’t afford to offer that.
Sad about the guy who filled the pain killer instead of the antibiotic, but not very smart of him… Yes, I will definitely fill what makes me feel good instead of what will cure me forever.
Even the most educated don’t appreciate the gravity of infection.
This stuff moves around and you don’t even realize it’s in your bloodstream until it’s too late.
In my first job I got a little infection in my leg (not work relate). I took time off from work for a doctor visit and got antibiotics. My boss scoffed at me, “You went to the doctor for that little thing?” What I didn’t bother to tell her is that he told me I was smart to come in when it didn’t respond to antibiotic cream for it would have continued to chew up chunks of my leg. 24 years later, I can put the tip of my finger in the divot from it. And he considered that we caught it early.
Yeah, I had that thought too – but maybe it wasn’t that he could only afford one of the drugs, maybe it was he could only afford the painkillers. Too bad the doctor didn’t stress the importance of antibiotics – or slip him a sample!
Dentists don’t get drug samples. And typically painkillers cost a lot more than antibiotics. Jim does tell people if they can only fill one prescription, to fill the antibiotic, not the painkiller, but heaven knows what this fellow was told. Believe it or not we have seen many people who purposely keep an infection so they can go to various doctors and collect lots of painkillers. Wacky, I know, but addiction is a powerful thing. BTW, untreated sinus infections can go to the brain and kill quickly, also.
Here’s the thing about dental care: even people on welfare with Medicaid cards seldom get it. In my moderately large city, there are only two dental clinics that will treat dental emergencies for free. Medicaid either won’t cover dentists, or the local dentists won’t take Medicaid. It’s much easier (compared to dental care, not that it’s EASIER in general) to get medical care from emergency rooms that have to see whoever comes in than it is to get dental care.
Wow…I was not aware of these stories. I must say I agree with Maryl. Several of the blogs I read are, of late, full of complaining about all sorts of small issues. Your blog, in contrast, always contains thoughtful, serious commentary and is remarkably free from whining and ranting. I, too, am hoping to hear that the strange man is now gone from your community….As for the childcare issue, I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but would the after school program take a small down payment and let you get the kids in so you can up your hours? Then, hopefully, you would pay them back quickly. $400 is not a huge sum–would they take $100 now and then an extra hundred a week for 3 weeks and let you catch up? My local elementary school after care program does this and lots of working parents have upped their work hours this way. Hang in there–your kind, generous attitude does not go unnoticed and things WILL get better.
No – the after school program is FOR PROFIT and they have a fairly hard-line on payments. They say this is due to too many deadbeat parents (or as I call them financially stressed parents). I was thinking since I finally have a job I could go to one of those payday loan places for the money. Providing of course my 30 hr work week would pay for the next week’s care (you have to pay in advance) and repay the loan.
NO, NO, NO, you do NOT. EVER. GO. to a payday loan place. That’s committing financial suicide, so stop thinking that. I do not shout at people, but there’s a first time for everything. Stay away from that pit of vipers.
I forget, but are the youngest bussed home – is there someone in the community that could watch them until the oldest gets home from school?
No. I drive all kids to the 3 different schools and pick them up right now. The youngest get out first, oldest last. If I get the little 2 in the after school program they can stay there (its on the school campus) until 6:30 PM. The oldest 2 will take the city bus home – the same bus runs right by both schools and lets out a block and a half from home. My work tells me I have to have 2 weeks at 30 hours before I can sign up for benefits. The benefits will just cover me (health and dental). If I want to cover the kids I’ll need to pay the $500 a month cost. If I work 30 hours a week I’ll be able to pay for the after school care, but not that and $500 in health insurance so I’m hoping I can get them covered on the low income ‘healthy family’ program since I’ll be making too much for them to continue to be covered under Medi-cal. It’s complicated!
NEVER EVER, EVER go to a payday lender!!! I would sooner make an arrangement with a friend or neighbor who is out of work. Have them pick up the kids and care for them for a few hours until you get home. For the first few weeks, pay them “in kind”–dinner, laundry, chores, computer help, whatever you can offer that would be valuable. Then, once you’ve worked enough and saved enough to pay for the after school care, pay them some cash. Basically, you just need a bridge loan in order to get the kids into the after school care–if you are going to borrow, make sure it is a person who is kind and flexible, NOT a company that is hoping you wil go deeper and deeper into debt!
I checked out one in our neighborhood – hard to get the real facts from them but it looks like the APR is 460%!! Plus $18 per $100 borrowed in fees/charges. A friend of mine sent me $100 today and if I can avoid using some of that for gas (unlikely as we are very low now) or food, I will put it aside towards childcare or car repair. I had painstakingly saved some money over the past year as a safety net but that all went towards the new house (trailer) and repairs. I just got our mailbox bill as well – $15 a month with a 3-month minimum. I forgot to factor that in. At least I got the car started again (although it’s stalled again today so that will have to be dealt with as soon as I can).
Good news on the daycare front – I can split the registration fee into 2 payments which means I only have to come up with $194 to enroll them! If I can pay tomorrow they can start next week and I can work 30 hours.
I have a patient who had a stroke at the age of 29 because a dental infection spread to her carotid artery. She had medicaid, but no local dentist would see her with that.
I have practiced “poverty medicine” in a small city for over 20 years, and things are definitely getting worse.
Don’t ignore that tooth if it starts to swell.
DeeDee
Please take a look at modestneeds.org. It’s worth a shot to get that molar repaired.
I have been reading another blog recently – I wish this woman, who whines and harbors bitterness (because, of course, nothing she’s done apparently has played into her current state) could get a load of your life for a while. Out of curiosity, has the creepy neighbor been removed from the community?
No! I was not happy when the 7 days passed and he was still here. The management is doing the ‘one more chance’ thing. The good thing is that since we moved down 5 spaces he no longer harrasses us. I’m still very uncomfortable (as are the kids) if he’s around when we are out but apparently he was told if he bothered us it would be the last straw.