Question: Surviving with no Insurance?

[jcannon98188]

Hi everyone,

I am a diabetic strongly thinking about moving to New Hampshire and starting up a business with my Father (Also a diabetic) and we were giving heavy thought to what insurance would cost us. Then I remembered hearing something like if you buy your medicine straight from the manufacturer in cash without using insurance you can get it at a way lower rate. Anyone able to confirm if this is true? Also, any tips on how to live without insurance at all?

 

[CTRattlesnake]

I'd recommend asking here

http://forum.freestateproject.org/

 

[MelissaCato]

I live without insurance, and yes paying cash is way cheaper. My teeth cleaning is $40, PAP test is $55, OMEGA blood tests vary the most being $68. Way cheaper and I get appts the day I call. Just so you know, I did have insurance years ago but my HMO dropped me after 1M$ horse accident. Other than that accident back then Iam as fit as a fiddle. Maybe in my senior years Ill need MM insurance but until then cash payer and 40% off Rx's fits my budget. And I still train racehorses.

 

[Crickett]

I am a diabetic and their "medicine" gave me gall bladder problems. They said I had to get it taken out, but with no insurance that was out of the question. I guess I will die youngish, but when I stopped the metaformin the gall bladder problem did, too. I find that when one has no insurance they seek out more natural ways of healing themselves. I have a back problem now. I go to a neuromuscular massage therapist who has GREATLY helped the problem which she said would probably be diagnosed as a bulging disk, with surgery the ultimate option. I am feeling it will be cured eventually, as it has improved 65%. I have had no insurance for almost 20 years. If they ever have to ambulance me to a hospital, and can find no charity to pay the bill, then I guess I can live with paying $5/ a month on it. Blood can not be taken from a turnip. Hospital bills are GROSSLY inflated, anyway, and if you happen to have cash to pay one (having no insurance) they are usually very happy with 1/4 of the bill, if talked to, correctly. For example, offer to pay $5/mo or settle for 1/4 the bill paid up front.

 

[Miles Dunn]

I have recently started reading a book called "Wheat Belly", he talks about the link between wheat and diabetes, maybe you should check it out. I am only like 6% into the book but he discusses how eliminating wheat from your diet can literally reverse diabetes. Wheat is in just about everything we eat now, and it's not the same wheat our ancestors ate. Just an idea, good luck to you.

Here is a quote from the book:
"An interesting fact: Whole Wheat bread (glycemic index 72) increases blood sugar as much as or more than table sugar, or sucrose (glycemic index 59). (Glucose increases blood sugar to 100, hence a glycemic index of 100. The extent to which a particular food increases blood sugar relative to the glucose determines that foods glycemic index.)"

 

[amonasro]

Personally I'd still have insurance for catastrophic accidents. Just make sure you have savings for things like dental work (I just had a crown put on that cost $1200) and doctor visits in case you do get sick and need antibiotics.

 

[Liberty74]

The Amish live without insurance. They pay cash.

But if fascist Obama gets his way, you won't have a choice unless you are a friend of his who gets 1 of the 1200 waivers where 25% are in Pelosi's district.

 

[Liberty74]

Personally I'd still have insurance for catastrophic accidents. Just make sure you have savings for things like dental work (I just had a crown put on that cost $1200) and doctor visits in case you do get sick and need antibiotics.

And that is the main point for health insurance, catastrophic. People think insurance should cover everything under the moon.

 

[Ivash]

What irritates me about people with no insurance is that if they get into an accident and cannot afford to pay its the taxpayers who have to pay for them (since we just can't let them die).

On the other hand Obamacare doesn't really make sense to me. Even if we assume that in the short term it will be financially sound (a big assumption) the entire premise relies upon forcing younger people (who are much less likely to need health insurance) to get health insurance. If America becomes even more secular the birth rate will certainly drop (as it has dropped in many other secularizing countries) and the system will be insolvent.

 

[Carlybee]

You should at least try to get catastrophic. You never know when something bad will happen and you want to at least get good care and not kicked out of the hospital before you're healed. My son tripped down a flight of stairs last year and suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in brain surgery and the removal of one third of his skull. He had to have extensive therapy..a second surgery and couldn't go back to work for 7 months..the bill was over a half million dollars. If he hadn't had insurance he wouldn't have gotten the brain injury rehab and probably wouldn't have made a full recovery.

 

[Carlybee]

Also there are dental svgs plans that run about $11 a month that save up to half on fillings and crowns.

 

[angelatc]

You should at least try to get catastrophic. You never know when something bad will happen and you want to at least get good care and not kicked out of the hospital before you're healed. My son tripped down a flight of stairs last year and suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in brain surgery and the removal of one third of his skull. He had to have extensive therapy..a second surgery and couldn't go back to work for 7 months..the bill was over a half million dollars. If he hadn't had insurance he wouldn't have gotten the brain injury rehab and probably wouldn't have made a full recovery.

Maybe, but my husband had a stroke in September. I can't imagine getting anything from the Catholic Hospital that he was in that we would have had if he had insurance. He had 9 weeks of live-in rehab, and only left because he wanted to come home. His doctor would have preferred that he stay another few weeks.

 

[Razmear]

Personally I'd still have insurance for catastrophic accidents. Just make sure you have savings for things like dental work (I just had a crown put on that cost $1200) and doctor visits in case you do get sick and need antibiotics.

re: antibiotics,
I had no insurance for many years, finally got it thru work at the beginning of this year.
I've had to get my own Amoxicillin and found it on Amazon in the Fish Medicine section. It is the same exact pills they would prescribe a human, but you don't need a prescription, or a $100 doctors appointment just to get them to write you one.
Here is a link to the product I got (just top search result, same bottle, might be different seller)
http://www.fishmoxfishflex.com/index.php/fish-antibiotics/amoxicillin-fish-antibiotics.html
There is also fish cipro and other useful meds out there that can be bought for a fraction of the price if it's for a 'pet'.

eb

 

[Keith and stuff]

Cannot many diabetics manage their condition without medicine by being a healthy body weight, eating a controlled diet and exercising? Do you have insurance and need meds now? Is there a way to manage your condition without meds? Perhaps you guys should get jobs at Starbuck, Taco Bell, Sam's Club or somewhere else that provides insurance benefits to employees?

You may be able to work for Starbucks or somewhere 30-40 hours a week and still run a business. BTW, the idea of moving to a new place and starting a new business right away (I'm not sure if you plan on doing that or not) seems iffy. I know a guy that moved to NH and then 2 or so years later started a successful business here. He worked in the restaurant industry for a couple of years. He worked in various positions. At the same time, he was meeting potential business partners and learning a good place to place his business. After a couple years of learning the area, the people and the industry, he was able to open a business. I think he has 2 or 3 success business going right now, and is a state Rep.

 

[The Free Hornet]

What irritates me about people with no insurance is that if they get into an accident and cannot afford to pay its the taxpayers who have to pay for them (since we just can't let them die).

Your anger is misplaced. It is the government that forces emergency care facilities to treat everybody:

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)[1] is a U.S. Act of Congress passed in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). It requires hospitals to provide care to anyone needing emergency healthcare treatment regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement provisions. Participating hospitals may only transfer or discharge patients needing emergency treatment under their own informed consent, after stabilization, or when their condition requires transfer to a hospital better equipped to administer the treatment.[1]

EMTALA applies to "participating hospitals." The statute defines "participating hospitals" as those that accept payment from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Medicare program.[2] However, in practical terms, EMTALA applies to virtually all hospitals in the U.S., with the exception of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Indian Health Service hospitals, and Veterans Affairs hospitals.

Wikilink

And that said, yes we can just let them die. That generally doesn't happen for people who need minor care but if you need heroic efforts and do not have the money, the charity, or the right insurance, then you will die. This may be sad but it is life. Denying reality doesn't help. Which is better, that the govenment force people to drink and smoke less or letting those who do roll the dice? People should make their own decisions and I will not value the life of a stranger more than that stranger values their own life.

 

[Keith and stuff]

What irritates me about people with no insurance is that if they get into an accident and cannot afford to pay its the taxpayers who have to pay for them (since we just can't let them die).

Personal insurance has always been your choice as a human. Be it life insurance, health insurance, home insurance, renter's insurance or auto insurance. You are not required by law to get the insurance. You are not required morally to get the insurance. You should not be and perhaps you will never be required to do so.

The other option is to go up to everyone and hand them a contract for insurance. If they refuse to sign it, drag them to jail right then and never let them out. I think I will continue to live in my society, where insurance isn't required.

 

[The Free Hornet]

Taking the topic seriously, I made a chart looking at the value of insurance versus that of buying gold instead. It assumes that insurance cost $818 for an individual 20 years ago and rose 10% annually to $5003 today (I have *NO* idea if that is a good assumption). Then I looked at the annual price of gold which I assume was bought instead. Results below:

So, thinking of your health history over the last twenty years, would you rather have $150,000 in gold or $47,000 flushed down the toilet? I'm assuming some of us may have had bills in excess of either amount, but not me.

 

[Suzu]

I am a diabetic ... any tips on how to live without insurance at all?

If your pancreas isn't too far gone, heal yourself. Yes, it can be done. Read one sufferer's story in the book Sugar Blues and act on the info it contains.

 

[Tinnuhana]

I think a big point here is that prices are inflated because of the involvement of the government with "big pharma", allowing them to jack up the prices...much like college tuition. The trick will be how to allow deflation to occur

 

[jcannon98188]

Well it was a virus that destroyed my pancreas to "healing" my pancreas is out of the question. I do require insulin daily, so I can't get off of it. I know that if I go super into a diet, such as paleo, I can massively cut my insulin intake to almost nothing, but without any insulin I would quickly deteriorate. I heard that buying insulin through the manufacturer is way cheaper ($100 for 2 bottles instead of $500 before insurance is taken out) and so I plan to look into the numbers there. And yeah, we were planning on moving and not getting real jobs. We are IT guys and can always find jobs (IT Pro's are a valuable asset to have)