No insurance

Evan S

Evan S

Veteran
Talking to a bunch of people in the video field with no insurance here. I'm talking about medical, dental, vision, etc. How does one get by without such insurance? I have no insurance to speak of, but I have a wisdom tooth that is begging to be pulled out. I do not however have 700 dollars to remove it. (This is an exaggeration of course, but in the end with x-rays, and anesthesia/local anesthetic it may as well be.) So my question is what do all of you do without having insurance?
I have started a part-time job, and do film making when I can. I only make enough to pay the bills - not rip my teeth out. I tried the local college here for their dental school/clinic. However, they are booked until the end up sept! and I can't live that long before I sink a fish-hook in my mouth and pull it out myself.
This also begs the question, what the heck am I going to do if I break an arm! :O
 
Most people make payment plans or simply go broke from hospital bills (or not pay them) if they don't have insurance through their job or can't afford it.

-Nate
 
Not about insurance in general, but you did mention dental care. Well. Even if you do have health insurance, or even specifically dental insurance, you will often be quite underwhelmed by the actual dental care you get. Every dental plan I ever had, I exceeded. I have had dental insurance since forever, and still, I have spent over $20K on dental care - how come? Because they don't cover a lot of stuff - in my case dental implants at $5K a pop (I had 3), or only cover stuff in ways I refuse to avail myself of (I take only highest quality stuff, like gold fillings, and they only cover amalgam or lower quality crowns etc.), or cover only partially, or you run past limits they impose (you can only spend X amount of $ per year etc.).

This, by the way, is a problem not just in the U.S., but even in countries where they have seemingly free health care like the U.K. (where the quality of dental care is horrible), or Sweden where the health care is free, but not dental care which you have to 100% pay for (at least that's the way it was awhile ago, don't know how it is today).

Bottom line, dental insurance is not happy land. Even if you have it, you may not be very happy with it.
 
I've always had insurance even if it was just one of the 'we only cover big emergency type problems' type plans. Considering the cost of medical bills it's just about stupid not to have insurance of some type. In LA I paid 150-ish a month for individual coverage for a couple of years before I was able to get on a group plan again. Personal health is just too important to neglect. Don't you have an 'emergency' credit card or savings account to fall back on in situations like this?

-A
 
That's very depressing, considering our teeth are probably the leading cause of most problems we have. Infection etc. It's not like I want to remove it for fun. I have a flap of skin that is trapping food which could lead to serious infection. Yet the most help I've gotten is ... nothing! In fact I went to a dentist today for consultation and I waited an hour and half to hear him tell me"remove the tooth!" no shi*! But you want me to pay 700 dollars for you to numb it and pull it out in what amounts to about a half hour of your time. Perhaps I am bitter, maybe there is a dentist on here that can explain. Eitherway it's crazy! Probably would have better luck with whiskey and pliers! (lol, kidding)

I have a credit card. Which I don't use that has 500 dollars on it. I live paycheck to paycheck, and the economy is not helping my pocket. It's hard for everyone right now. The last job I had I was laid off. I had wonderful insurance but they cut back. Now I'm stuck working two jobs in an area with one of the highest unemployment rates around.
 
Until I qualified for MPH&W, I just did my best to avoid getting sick or injured.

Yeah, real helpful, I know.
 
Sorry; Motion Picture Health and Welfare.

It's the health care insurance/provider system for IATSE/SAG members.
 
Evan S said:
In fact I went to a dentist today for consultation and I waited an hour and half to hear him tell me"remove the tooth!" no shi*! But you want me to pay 700 dollars for you to numb it and pull it out in what amounts to about a half hour of your time. Perhaps I am bitter, maybe there is a dentist on here that can explain. Eitherway it's crazy!
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That's a separate issue. You don't have a "right" to anyone's services, including the dentist. He charges what he pleases, as it should be. If you don't like it, find a dentist who charges less, or go without... isn't that how it is with everything? You set the price for your video services, and if the bride/groom think it's too much for your time, well, they can go employ someone else - right? Same here.

Why does it cost so much for "30 minutes of his time" - the dentist does not just pocket the entire sum: he has overhead. It costs to run the place, pay the assistants, the front office personnel, the light bill, the equipment costs etc., etc., etc.

However, it may be that even after all these costs, it is still a hefty sum. Yet, think of it this way: he has invested years of his life and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in his education - in order to recoup his investment, he MUST charge a good chunk for his time. He cannot charge as little as someone who has NOT made all that investment. It takes him years and years to pay back school loans. You divide his loan obligations by the time per year he can practice and just to break even, he has to charge quite a chunk. And that's not even counting the overhead, taxes etc.

Finally, it's like with the car mechanic. A friend once said "all he did is tighten one screw, and charged me $100, I could have done that for $5". And my reply was: you are not just paying for his tightening the screw - as you point out, anyone can do that; what you are really paying for, is knowing which screw to tighten".

Same with the dentist - you are not just paying for the few actions involved in his giving you a shot and working with some tools for 10 minutes. You are paying for his expertise. If you don't believe so, then go ahead, and do it yourself, or have a friend take some pliers and do it... you may find the cost of subsequent hospital bills to repair the infections and the botched effects to be quite a bit more than the cost of the dentist's expertise.

That said, there are reasons why nations have decided that providing health care for their citizens out of general tax revenue is a good idea and a competitive advantage (just ask how much healthcare costs add to an American car vs a Japanese or Canadian car) and a societal good, but I don't want to get political, so I'll drop that.
 
Evan S said:
Talking to a bunch of people in the video field with no insurance here. I'm talking about medical, dental, vision, etc. How does one get by without such insurance? I have no insurance to speak of, but I have a wisdom tooth that is begging to be pulled out. I do not however have 700 dollars to remove it. (This is an exaggeration of course, but in the end with x-rays, and anesthesia/local anesthetic it may as well be.) So my question is what do all of you do without having insurance?
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i suggest a pair of pliers and a bottle of vodka.

fortunately i'm insured through my wife. as far as medical emergencies go, show up at the ER and they will treat you. when you get the bill you'll have to appeal to them and explain you don't have the money to pay it. based on your income they may write it off completely.
 
To add to what old corpse already touched on, my wife is a dentist and yes there are a lot of costs people are not aware of for working medical professionals.

Evan, get a second opinion. I am no medical expert my I hear enough from my wife about how the other doctors are "fast triggers" about extraction. You should always try to save a tooth if possible. It's worth your time, money and health.
 
luckily my teeth are ok, but I too have no health insurance. I tried to get individual coverage and was DENIED because I take Allegra allergy medicine (which I thought was ridiculous). My part-time day job doesn't offer health insurance, so I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I've considered getting a side job at FedEx or maybe even Starbucks, but those don't seem like good long term options.
 
Try the local county hospital in your area. You'll most likely be there all day but they will remove the tooth for free since you don't have insurance.
 
700 bucks for one tooth?

I've had all four removed at different times,

price, 350 (oral surgery Oklahoma)

90 (pull Oklahoma)

150 (pull Oklahoma)

200 (in SF pull)


good luck with it. I feel your pain, grew up poor, saw the Dintest for the first time in my life when I was 22
 
When you go to the doctor or dentist tell them that you don't have insurance. Some doctors will charge individuals less if they are paying completely out of pocket. Something to consider.

Jeremy is right. Get yourself a hot wife (that works) and get on her (policy).

Adkimery is right. Catastrophic insurance is better than no insurance. Most of us can financially survive an occasional visit to the doctor or even a tooth being pulled. But if an accident generates $25k in medical bills the costs for going through bankruptcy would far exceed the annual insurance payments.

Sad Max is right. You can find lower rates by getting lumped in to a larger group. Large groups have more leverage in negotiating rates with the insurance companies. Small companies and individuals of course have no leverage therefore they get the "dirty" end of the stick. AICP is another industry related group that offers insurance to their members.

The only other advice I have to offer up is that if can't sleep because your tooth hurts don't watch Marathon Man.
 
hehe, work at Starbucks... it's like twenty bucks a month for it all... you only have to sell part of your soul to The Man... it's not so bad....
 
Evan S said:
I have a credit card. Which I don't use that has 500 dollars on it. I live paycheck to paycheck, and the economy is not helping my pocket. It's hard for everyone right now. The last job I had I was laid off. I had wonderful insurance but they cut back. Now I'm stuck working two jobs in an area with one of the highest unemployment rates around.
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I've been there man, you just gotta keep your chin up and grind out the hard times. 2001-2004 was a pretty rough time for me in part because I spent as much time employed as I did unemployed and had a 4 month stretch where I literally had no money at all and lived off my credit cards.

Call around to different dentist offices in your area and see if any of them off payment plans.


-A
 
i'm just biding my time until i can get on the fiancé's health/dental plan.

Had a 2.5" laceration on my hand earlier this summer. That cost me 1200 bucks, and i make too much money to get any discounts. They way i see it, I still made out as it was cheaper than paying $200 a month for insurance. (being 24 and male sucks for health insurance) yeah ... i know it's a risk.

BUT! here's the kicker. I was billed separately for the hospital and physician. The guy who ACTUALLY stitched me up (12 stitches BTW) - $450. Merely stepping in the hospital and having to wait 2 hours with a bloody boxing glove of paper towel? - $750. No one i called at the hospital seemed to get the inherent stupidity in this.
 
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