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Home › Articles › General Family Finance › Medical Emergencies Without Insurance

Medical Emergencies Without Insurance

How to Get the Help You Need Without Going into Debt

By Teri Brown

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The McCoys of Eagan, Minn., learned that it doesn't have to be a major emergency to sink the ship. Add enough little things together and you can find yourself swimming in medical bills. In rapid succession, the family had several medical problems and emergencies pop up without warning – right after they lost their main income health insurance.

"We managed to open a file with our local clinic, which bills us after services, but most of the time we ended up going to the urgent care clinic instead," says Rebecca McCoy, now an operations coordinator for an executive search and placement firm. "The urgent care clinic required payment at the time of services, but they were significantly cheaper, did more for us and often gave us free samples of medication to completely fill our prescriptions, since they noticed that we had no insurance and they knew medical bills were rather pricey to begin with."

The McCoys and the Nunezes learned how to work the system through experience. Most medical offices will work with you if you show good faith by paying every month. Have a written agreement, and if you get any trouble, remind them of the agreement.

"A few times one of the offices sent letters, threatening to send us to collections, but I called and reminded them of our agreement and offered to fax them documentation," says Nunez. "They backed right down. It really helps to know your rights."

Additional Resources

For help with medical costs without insurance, check out the following resources:

  • Covering Kids & Families – Their statewide coalitions work with public officials, health professionals, educators, businesses, social service agencies and faith-based organizations to design and implement strategies to simplify enrollment processes and renewal processes for SCHIP and Medicaid. They will help you find resources on low-cost or free medical services in your state. For more information, call 1-877-KIDS-NOW or visit www.insurekidsnow.gov.
  • The Individual Cancer Assistance Network (ICAN) – This network provides a chance for cancer patients and their families to deal with cancer-caused stress by meeting with a counselor for up to six one-on-one counseling sessions. No health insurance is needed to take advantage of ICAN counseling. People pay only what they can afford to pay. Cancer patients or their family members can call 1-866-359-ICAN.
  • The National Center for Policy Analysis – The National Center for Policy Analysis has done a study on how to lower your prescription drug costs. The study includes information on pill splitting, generic drugs and financial assistance to lower drug cost. For more information log on to www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st262/.
  • The Center for Patient Advocacy – This is a grass roots organization that works to ensure patients have timely access to the highest quality health care in the world. They are a diverse, nationwide coalition with a wealth of information on patient rights. This site includes information on patient dumping laws – refusing emergency care for lack of insurance. For more information, visit www.patientadvocacy.org/index.htm.


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