Healthcare for the Poor

Twenty percent of Americans have too little or no health insurance, and fulltiming adds another layer of complexity to healthcare concerns.  How will I afford health care?  What if I lose my insurance? What if I can't get insurance?  This information is not just for RVers, but it's a topic near to my heart.  Please add information if you know something not listed here.


Advice from the experts:

• Uninsured in America  -  a Florida physician, Stephen Blythe,  coaches us through some fee-wrangling with doctors and hospitals.  I'm not sure he promotes it on his website, but he has written Uninsured in America - a survival guide.
• Healthcare and Staying Healthy on the Road  -  Cherie and Chris of Technomadia present some insurance options, as well as sharing some of their own healthcare experiences.
• Fulltimer Nina outlines the resources they used to choose their coverage in Wheeling It.
• Cheap RV Living has begun a series on living without health insurance.
• 101 Ways to Save Money on Health Care  -  written by an urban Ohio physician, Cynthia J. Koelker, MD, she gives what she promises.  

Financial assistance:

• NeedyMeds - a clearinghouse of information, drug discounts, free and low-cost treatment centers, and more.  Worth looking into.
• Partnership for Prescription Assistance - low-income help with Rx
• Indigent Rx help by pharmaceutical company - names and phone numbers for drug companies who provide maintenance medications to low-income patients
• Walmart's $4/$10 generic drug list. - take this list with you to your appointment.
• Janssen Prescription Assistance - a Johnson & Johnson clearinghouse for drug and medical supply assistance
• CaresByGSK - Glaxo Smith Kline offers help getting oncology meds for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured patients
• Prescription assistance programs - a long list of disorders and diagnoses that may qualify for co-payment help 
• CancerCare - provides financial help for cancer patients
• American Cancer Society local chapters have information on financial help for treatment-related expenses.  Call 800/ACS(272)-2345
• R.A. Bloch's list of cancer resources

Getting insurance:

• eHealthInsurance - lets you compare choices.
• Healthcare.gov
• High-risk pool
• Another high-risk pool site
• Samaritan Ministries - private insurance/healthcare fund for Christians who attend church regularly and have a pastor to vouch for them.

Bloodwork and labs:

• Order your own labwork - if you know what you want done, you can skip the middleman.
• Less-expensive labwork - same as above, but prices are lower.
• Even less-expensive labwork - order your tests online, then go to the nearest LabCorp. They offer a huge array of tests.
• West Coast Health Services - lowest test prices we've seen on a basic list of tests. Team covers much of California and Arizona. HbA1c, full lipid panel, glucose, ALT/AST (liver function), and allergy testing. Useful educational consult included. Check their schedule for a clinic near you.
• Any Lab Test Now - another option for bloodwork. Many locations in larger cities.

Test-specific resources:

• CDC-sponsored colorectal screening program - low-income, un- or underinsured, 50-64 years
• CDC-sponsored breast and cervical screening program - underserved women
• Arizona Department of Health Services - well-woman screening for breast and cervical cancer

Other care options:

• Medical tourism
• Walgreen's clinics - know up front what your visit will cost

Free-clinic directories:

• Free and sliding-fee clinics across US (HRSA) - find health care and mental health services
• Planned Parenthood - offers women's and men's health care services, usually on sliding scale.
• NeedyMeds - free and sliding-fee clinics, listed by state.
• FreeMedicalCamps.com - you'll have to do your own legwork for each provider to figure out if you're eligible as a non-resident.
• FreeMedicalSearch.org
• FreeDentalCare.us
• South Carolina - this site has a helpful map for provider locations.
• Georgia
• New Mexico Public Health Offices
• Hill-Burton free and reduced-cost health care - find specific facilities obligated to  provide free or reduced-cost treatment.  

Local clinics that we know about:

Ajo, AZ:

• Desert Senita Community Health Center - sliding fee scale and help with government programs

Flagstaff, AZ:

• North Country Health Care - also serves twelve other northern Arizona locations. Sliding fee scale, self-pay, most insurances, AHCCCS (Arizona Medicaid). (928) 213-6100.

Offers free mammograms and PAP test for 40+ uninsured women, and free colon cancer screening for 50+ uninsured men and women. (928) 213-6104, (800) 687-5798 ext. 2373

Tucson, AZ:

• El Rio Community Health Center - (520) 792-9890. Serves the uninsured and underserved Tucson community with free care or sliding fees. Locals and AZ healthcare professionals have told us El Rio has a good reputation. 
• St. Mary's Hospital, west Tucson -  helps you get financial assistance, if  you qualify, and offers 45% self-pay discount if you do not. [N.B.: this is a faith-based hospital.]

Filing insurance claims:

• Hannah Taylor has compiled a website that may help in filing insurance claims.

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