health insurance

Usually insurance is gotten through your employer. (As you probably know.)

The only suggestion I have is to look into what ever Public Health clinic the County might have in your area.

$150/mo is about as cheap as you're gonna get it. And if they find you have a preexisting condition it may not even cover that. Also note that insurance doesn't mean you're fully covered; you'll still have to pay for procedures, copays, and prescription drugs.

I'm in the same boat; I have a fungal sinus infection that requires surgery and can't afford to get it.

[Edited on Jun 06, 2006 by AndyM]

standing offer: I'll marry any and all who want to come to canada for the free health insurance.

Health insurance bites. Mine is through work and its still almost $40 per week, just for me. Prescription coverage is what to look for--$10-20 co-pays beat paying full price any day and often, even $150 a month is cheaper than what some basic meds can end up costing.
Many doctors will let you do a payment plan if you talk to them about your situation ahead of time.

Land of the free - yeah right.

Stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, hence recent Nobel prize for Medicine going to some Aussies. There could be a trial of the new drug around.

In times where I have not had medical insurance I have gone to Urgent Care or a clinic. It is decidedly cheaper. Call ahead to speak with someone about their rates. These people are usually pretty helpful to students and those in a time of need.

Yes, theoretically we should all have insurance, but why panic yourself until you find out if it is anything serious. And why sink $150/ month you don't have on insurance that probably won't cover anything you need to have done. Believe it or not $150 is pretty cheap as far as health insurance goes. And it usually comes with a pretty steep deductable. Odds are if you don't have $150/ month you're not going to have the $2,000 deductable you'll owe for the hospital tests.

Some med schools offer cheaper services for those who are willing to be seen by their med students.
Some doctors offer lower rates for those who do not have insurance.
Also, dont be afraid to ask the doctor for med samples.
I dont have any direct experiance with them, but Cub Quick Med is worth a look.
You can also ask your md to write on any of your prescriptions that the pharmacy is allowed to substitute cheaper alternatives in the same drug class.
Have you tried over the counter Prilosec for your symptoms?

I pay for kaiser, since i'm a contractor, and none is offered normally. its not cheap, but its worth every penny. when i was diagnosed in december, they were all over me. cured of cancer in 5 months for about 200 bucks. hard to argue with that.

Perhaps it's my filthy liberal Canadian upbringing talking, but I just think theres something inherently wrong about not being able to get medical care for serious health problems.

...I am so there!

No there's something wrong with America for not caring about its citizens.

Yeah… you damn crazy Canadians… and your wanting everyone to be well cared for!

…what are you all thinking!?!

I'm self-employed, so I've had my own health insurance for a long time now. $150 - $200 a month sounds high, but rates depend on where you live so who knows. I got my last policy through ehealthinsurance.com... they don't have every insurance company by a long shot, but I got something like 100 different plans from 20 different companies to pick through, and right now I'm only paying $110/mo as a smoker in a state with some of the highest rates in the country.

I am currently in the same situation minus the stomach problem add bipolar. Most companies do not want to cover mental illness. If they do since I was diagnoised 3 years ago it ends up being cheaper out of pocket. I am looking into qualifing for medicaid or disability either way I will not be able to work.

What college has no health plan?

yeah, are you sure they don't have anything?

yeah, that was really odd to me too. you can't even be enrolled at my college unless you either have their health insurance or your own.

For a self-pay policy, unfortunately I don't think you're going to find anything much cheaper than $150-$200 a month, and even then, the policy will really only be good for catastrophic illness/accidents.
Really, if this seems to be a chronic problem, you should look into getting a job that offers full health benefits, even if it means cutting back your schooling to part time. Either that or take up subwaycarmystery on his offer.
Maybe take a look at your diet/habits that may be aggravating your stomach. Do you smoke? Do you drink alcohol? What kinds of foods do you eat? Stress also can create horrible stomach ulcers (my sister had them from stress while going through college).
Anyways, I hope you feel better, and that this is all just a passing problem.

It would be nice if the government took care of it but you have to ask your self, to you really want our government to run your health care system? I mean they do such a great job with everything else.

It's not just you. It's so bloody sad that even in the relatively really affluent parts of the world, some people don't have access to essential medical and dental care. It's shocking.

I'd trust the government more than I'd trust private corporations, whose only goal is to maximize profits for their share-holders. I worked for a health-insurance company for a short period of time... my entire job was to examine claims in an attempt to find a way that the insurance company could weasel out of paying those claims. I lasted only three weeks before I became so disgusted with myself that I quit.
The socialized medicine systems that Canada and the UK have may not be perfect, but they are a far cry better than the privatized system that the US has.

I'm not so fond of private corporations running things either. I have been getting the run around for almost a year now trying to get one thing done. To me it's a lose, lose situation no matter who runs health care. On one hand you have the private companys that don't care about their customers and only their bottom line and on and then there is the government with their usueal inefectiveness.

the trade-off in Canada is access vs. wait time. we all have access but sometimes we have to wait a little longer. they're always tweaking the system, and it seems to be getting better.

I can't get it through my head why there's nothing like public, single-payer health insurance for US citizens. it's not a complicated equation. whether you live or die shouldn't depend on how rich you are.

scrooge mcduck shouldn't get to skip the line, or get a better doctor (I'm lookin' at you, UK).