The Gaming Den

So, I don't have health insurance. Turns out my family is too poor to afford it anymore. This wasn't going to be a problem for me, because I'm going to graduate school in September and they are going to give me health insurance. Well, it's now a problem, because a couple days ago one of my eyes started to hurt really bad so I went to the college's health services and yada yada yada, long story short they told me I needed to see an opthamologist. Not that I needed to see one yesterday, but it was still close to urgent.

This presents a bit of a problem, because I have no health insurance and almost no money. Enough to cover a couple visits, but that's it. The ones I was referred to, I was told by the nurse at the college, want cash up-front. So that's a problem.

So I did a little googling, and found that NY State has some health insurance program for those who are too poor to pay for it (like me) called Medicaid. The problem is I won't get the insurance, like, tomorrow. Does anyone know if I can go to the eye doctor now, get Medicaid some stupid amount of time later (they claim "up to 90 days"), and file a claim for reimbursement despite the fact that I wasn't technically covered yet? I can't find any information about this.

Or does anyone have any advice in general? This whole thing is just altogether pretty scary.

Or does anyone have any advice in general?

Armed revolt.

It's that only way we are going to get a sensible health care system in this country.

Totally depends upon the state, but usually not.

This is why the 'uninsured' is like, only a couple dozen million - because 'technically' many people are covered, yet not really.

-Crissa

A couple of times, we've needed to see a doctor when we didn't have the money or insurance to pay for it. My mom suggested looking for a free clinic - the one around here is run by a church. They were able to fix up my husband without further appointments. They referred me to a group of physicians who volunteer because my injury needed follow up.

I volunteer at a public library, and it has quite a bit of information about referring people to various free services and information sources available locally. Maj's suggestion sounds like the sort of thing a public library would keep tabs on.

If you have access to a library (either general or medical) in your area, they might be able to refer you to someplace that can help. Depending on the library in question, it may accept questions by telephone, IM, or email.

Surgo: Just remember to check what the insurance program your school provides covers. Many health insurance schemes don't cover existing conditions, so even with the insurance your paying for through you school fees might not cover any ongoing care for this problem.

And you know it might be cheaper to TAKE A BOAT TO CUBA.

If he's in NY State, making a run for the northern border might make more sense.

-Username17

Surgo, I'm in NJ right now and trying to do the same thing among applying for disability and whatever else and seeing what lands first ditching the rest. But, the waiting period is seriously long. But if you can get a note from your doc that your condition is serious and that the condition needs immediate expedited care, and you attach this note to your application, and often, it might help.

Many states such as Texas often deny Medicaid for young adults or adults who are not senior citizens but NY is rather different. But the anti-David Patterson ads that have been running in the tri-state area don't convince otherwise.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/health_care/ -- you've probably been here already but here's a link for a set for ny healthcare programs.

Edit: also call your city health care office and ask for indigent care expense which sometimes cover health expenses.

Some providers (typically larger institutions, like a university hospital owned clinic) will take "Medicaid pending" as long as you have applied. This happens more frequently when you've been hospitalized and the hospital knows that they'll get nothing unless they can get your medicaid through and get paid by them.

Needing ophtho help makes this a bit trickier. There are places that provide free care for people who have no money/insurance, but specialty care can be difficult to find in such places. If you live near a university/medical school it can sometimes be easier to find free care there. Best case scenario is to go to an Eye ER (here in Boston we have the Mass Eye and Ear ER). Then they would have to see you at least once, and you would then be plugged into a provider. Once you get to know someone, if you're nice to them, they're much more likely to see you as an outpatient and come up with some kind of payment plan for your care.

Hope this helps.