[NotSoOrdinary14]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here- so hopefully I'm going about this right. Condensing the story as much as possible, 14 days ago my fiance had surgery to repair his fractured c7 vertebrae after an accident on the beach. A week and three different hospitals later he was home with pain meds and orders to see his family physician for follow up.

He is almost 22 years old and has not had a regular family physician since becoming an adult and losing health coverage. He has no insurance. So we went to a clinic to figure out where to go next since he only has pain prescriptions for two weeks post release from hospital.

The clinic doctor immediately turned us away and said to go to a local ED and take advantage of their charity care. Having just returned from the ED, with instructions to schedule a meeting with the Neurosurgery department at the same hospital we are now concerned that the pain medications will run out before we find another doctor willing and able to take on his continued care.

What are our options from here? the accident happened out of state and returning to the original hospital for follow up in not a viable option. How do we get him the care he needs from the proper physicians without racking up medical bills we will never be able to pay off?

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. I just want him to have the pain management that he needs, the finances of it all being a very secondary concern on my part.

Jess from NJ

[lal209]

Hi, Jess. I'm not sure I can offer much sound advice, but a few thoughts instead... I went through a situation a few years ago where I didn't have health insurance and ended up in a hospital for a week with bilateral pulmanary embolisms. Fortunately I was in my late 40's at the time and had a 401K I could draw on -- now $60K less. I did learn a few things as I went through the process though that might help. Most Dr's have a "self-pay" rate that is %30-50 less than their full charge, so always make it known up front that you are self-paying for the care. It's still more than what the insurance companies pay, but every bit helps. Also, I found that most of the Dr's working in hospitals charge a lot more than those who work outside of them. The downside of that is that most hospital will let you go on a payment plan where not all Dr's offices will. Check on costs and payment options up front.

Before going to see the nuerologists at the hospital, see if you can get into see a primary care physician. They are less expensive and you can usually get in to see them quickly. They can write a prescription for the pain medication before he runs out. Check with family and friends to see who they recommend. Often having a referral gets you in quicker as well. Look for a certified internist if you can. They usually have more training and can hanlde more issues than a general practitioner.

Not knowing your specifics or NJ regulations, it might be worthwhile to check into medicaid. My 18-yr old niece who had moved out from her parents house recently had to go into the hospital for chest pains and was there for 3 days w/out insurance. She was able to qualify for assistance and work out a payment plan for the rest.

Good luck to you both!