The Uninsured (Burlington: health insurance, credit card, unemployed)
New Jersey Suburbs of PhiladelphiaBurlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, Salem County in South Jersey
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Where do the unemployed, underemployed, uninsured receive medical attention in Burlington County? The person who requires medical attention lives in southern Evesham Township or Atco.
Where do the unemployed, underemployed, uninsured receive medical attention in Burlington County? The person who requires medical attention lives in southern Evesham Township or Atco.
I am under the impression that no hospital can turn you away.. Whether you can pay or not.
I, too, have heard that. Or, rather, they will treat you and when you don't (or can't) pay they will turn you over to collections. Those buzzards will chase you around for a while. That happened to my nephew when he was a full time student.
My son has a whopping case of strep. I called the long time family practice about an appointment. They informed me that his health insurance was no longer active. I knew that. They also told me that since he hadn't been there in two years that he would be considered a new patient. The nurse would call back to schedule an appoint and speak with him because he is now an adult. I called to give them a credit card number. They found an appointment.
A lot of his friends are not so fortunate. They have no one to cover their six.
Unfortunately you basically end up choosing between two options when you are uninsured:
1. If you are un/underemployed, you can just go to a hospital ER. They must treat you for whatever condition you have. You will then be asked to fill out a form requesting "charity care". If you are un/underemployed, you should meet the income qualifications to have the cost of your treatment fully waived. (These types of cases are the ones that end up driving up rates and costs for everyone, the main financial argument for universal healthcare.)
2. If you are simply dealing with a basic illness like strep, the flu, etc. and need nothing more then a quick check and a prescription then places like the "Minute Clinics" at CVS offer pretty affordable "menu rates":
The sites are staffed by nurse practitioners who are able to diagnose basic issues from the flu and strep to stitches. The costs are known upfront and you often get a discount on the medication if you fill it there. However, you are not required to fill it there and could just as easily go to a place like Wal*Mart that offers cheap generic prescriptions for as little as a few dollars. While it will cost you money, maybe as much as $100 for a visit and prescription, it is still way more cost effective then going to a regular doctor.
The other nice advantage of these clinics is that they are generally open at night and on the weekend as well. My wife developed strep a couple years ago and it really hit her on Friday night. Our doctors office is closed on Saturday and they weren't going to call in a prescription for an antibiotic without seeing her. So, we had a choice of waiting until Monday to see the doctor or going to the clinic. We went to the clinic and in 20 minutes she had the results of her strep test and a prescription. They took our insurance so we only had our copay.
Also, if the problem is "more then clinic" but "not quite ER", 'urgent care' facilities are spreading all over the area. These places can handle just about every routine issue an ER would short of things like heart attacks, strokes, etc. So, if you end up needing extensive stitches, setting a broken bone, etc. these are a relatively affordable option to getting that care.
Our local Minute Clinic is good but doesn't always have availability, so I actually prefer the Premier Urgent Care Center in Cherry Hill. Never had to wait very long and they've always been quite good to me. For my lack of insurance, it's pricey but won't kill me like an ER visit would.
Our local Minute Clinic is good but doesn't always have availability, so I actually prefer the Premier Urgent Care Center in Cherry Hill. Never had to wait very long and they've always been quite good to me. For my lack of insurance, it's pricey but won't kill me like an ER visit would.
We have a Premier Urgent Care very close to our house. We have only used it once, but it was very convenient. My one daughter had repetitive "nurse maids elbow" and on one Saturday we just couldn't pop it back in. Since our pediatrician was closed, the only other choice was the ER. Headed to urgent care, got X-rays onsite, had a doctor check, set the arm and give her a sling. All told we were there for around two hours. It was billed through our insurance and the copay was half of what an ER visit would have cost.
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