Handling the situation when you don’t have insurance or service is not covered by insurance policy.

Insurance is an integral part of the American system. Insurance is often perceived as an unnecessary cost by people who are immigrants or are temporarily working in America. It is important for them to understand that in American systems insurance is not a luxury, but a need. Also for most people, since health insurance is covered and provided by their employer, they don’t really give it due importance and most often take it for granted.

First and foremost, you must buy a good medical insurance policy for your visiting parents/ relatives , since the health care cost is very high in America. Neglecting or not taking insurance for the visitors can be a big risk that can lead to a huge financial burden on you and your guest visitor.

We often get calls from people who want to buy insurance only when a medical situation has occurred or when their visiting parents/relatives are in need of medical attention. Remember you must have insurance before the problem occurrs, NO insurance company will provide you policy if the problem has already occurred. Insurance is to cover unforeseen risk and not for known or existing problems.

So, if you are reading this article and do not have an insurance, you must consider buying a good insurance policy.

What if you are in a situation, where you don’t have insurance and need medical attention? OR You do have an insurance but it does not cover for certain types of services or pre-existing conditions, etc.

Here are some tips which can be helpful.

1. If you are in need of medical service and the situation is not an emergency situation, do some research and find a hospital or facility which is for charity or is a non-profit. This kind of service provider may have reasonably low charges for the services they provide.
2. If it is a life threatening medical situation, call 911 or visit the nearest medical center.

Billing: - While most hospitals or service providers may not insist that you pay before they give you the treatment, some of them may require you to pay first. In some cases, the service provider may even ask you to sign a waiver declaration, stating that you will be responsible to make the payments.

Dealing with the cost and billing?
Unfortunately, hospital or doctors do not publish their rates, and their bill always comes as a surprise. Be prepared, if you have taken any medical services you are going to receive a bill sooner or later. In majority of the cases, the bill amount is substantially large; just a doctor visit can cost up to a thousand dollars.

Don’t run away from the situation, if you have taken the services, and you are a good citizen, you must ready to pay for the services. You should definitely do some efforts to minimize the bill and find all possible ways to negotiate, waive and reduce the charges. Communication is the key ..

1. Talk to the billing dept.: Find out if they have a waiver policy. Some hospitals have a waiver program, if the patient qualifies, espeically if he or she is not in good financial standing, you may have to provide proof of income, etc.
2. Request for discount: Accounts departments may agree to give some discount. In many cases, hospitals offer any where from 25% to 70% discount.
3. Payment terms: Ask if the payment can be made in easy and affordable through installments programs, like paying X dollar per month for next 2 years etc.

Aforementioned are not guaranteed, it totally depends on the service provider’s policy.

Published: Jan 31st, 2008.
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