Quote:
Originally Posted by starfish
I know this has not been easy for you financially. My questions are really about how your level of care and services might change when you are not privately insured.
Would you still be able to be on tysabri? Would you still be seeing the same medical providers? I had heard in the past from family members that there were limits on how many patients a doctor would take from certain systems, and that appointment times were less convenient for folks on alternate systems.
I had to look hard to find that red line, which of course it at the very bottom.
From the chart perspective it seems like the public program is a no brainer, but my concern for you is the quality of care, if you have a choice.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Victor H
Cindy, I was not referring to any specific form of assitance, but rather getting public assistance in general even though the personal money is there to cover expenses without the public assistance.
I am keeping it. I do not have the ethical right to take public assistance when I can scrape up enough to pay for the insurance. There may be a time when that changes and I am broke, but until then, I will just keep on subsidizing the health insurance industry.
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The reason I was asking about medicaid or medicare specifically, Vic, has a lot to do with what Starfish said. In MI, one must be at or below the poverty level to qualify. This means no liquid assets to speak of, no incoming resources, and no expectation of future financial resources.
Many physicians here will not accept the standardized portion paid by the system and therefore send a bill for the remainder directly to the patient. Dental and optical are pretty much out of the question, and progressive MS treatment is a battle.
Ty is flatly refused based on probability, they'd rather gamble that a patient won't need long-term primary care and if it is needed, patients are at the mercy of the state-funded warehousing facilities.
The ethical portion, for me, boils down to need and availability. If you feel that you honestly need the assistance, it is there for that purpose. Once you step away from your insurance, it will likely never again be available to you. Ty would most likely be out of the question (assuming you won't be footing the $20k+ monthly bill yourself).