4 ms·

A quick question for my stateside brothers. What happens if you get cancer and can't afford chemo? What kind of care will hospitals provide?

epmaybe 6y ago
great question. Organizations such as the American Cancer Society will help out occasionally with treatment. If you qualify for medicaid/medicare, you can get some treatments that way. Your doctor could try and get you into trials that are funded and cover the cost of treatment. At the end of the day though, there are many that fall through the cracks of our healthcare system. And that sucks.
- ed25519FUUU 6y ago
  Once you basically lose everything, your house, your 401k, your job, all of your savings, etc, then you declare bankruptcy. After that you’ll qualify for Medicare because your income level. That’s when the federal government steps in and you can usually get some kind of treatment. Over 60% of bankruptcies are medical related.
  - JimTheMan 6y ago
    OK, so basically once you get reduced to poverty you get some care. Does medicare give you good quality care? Someone I know recently had cancer in Australia, they are wealthy but don't have private health insurance: so they went through the public system. It seemed like they got care that was just as good to be honest. Just not a private room.
    - refurb 6y ago
      If your income is low enough, you qualify for Medicaid (which is retroactive too so will pay past bills). If you're disabled by the disease and you qualify for Social Security Income you can get covered by Medicare. If neither of those are options, may hospitals provide charity care (where most or all of the bill is forgiven - they often try to get you on Medicaid as well). And if you're truly indigent and on the street, there are hospitals like SF General where you can get care. I'm not saying that navigating the system is easy or straightforward. But there are options out there. And bankruptcy laws vary by state, but typically they can't take your home, vehicles or your retirement savings.
01100011 6y ago
My ex mother in law was... a professional patient. She was morbidly obese, and over the 20 years I knew her had: - non-hodgkin's lymphoma - pulmonary blood clots - a section of her abdomen the size of a loaf of bread went necrotic after a suture migrated and pierced her intestines. - heart failure leading to constant oxygen - breast cancer and there's probably something else I'm forgetting. She was a deadbeat who managed to work about 6 months of her life. None of her major health problems started until after 40. She was a welfare mom who married a guy with a meth habit who worked at an automotive parts counter making peanuts. At no point was she ever denied care. She even spent around 6 months in the ICU at University of California Irvine and had amazing reconstructive surgery for the necrotic tissue. Of course she ate her way back to morbid obesity after getting a new lease on life. The US health care system seems to cause more issues for people with a little wealth, because it will happily take it all away. For people with nothing, in my personal experience, you can get great care.
refurb 6y ago
It depends on your situation. If you're low income, depending on your state, you might qualify for Medicaid, which will provide pretty close to the same care as private insurance. If that's not an option, many hospital provide charity care.

epmaybe 6y ago

great question. Organizations such as the American Cancer Society will help out occasionally with treatment. If you qualify for medicaid/medicare, you can get some treatments that way. Your doctor could try and get you into trials that are funded and cover the cost of treatment. At the end of the day though, there are many that fall through the cracks of our healthcare system. And that sucks.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago
Once you basically lose everything, your house, your 401k, your job, all of your savings, etc, then you declare bankruptcy. After that you’ll qualify for Medicare because your income level. That’s when the federal government steps in and you can usually get some kind of treatment. Over 60% of bankruptcies are medical related.
- JimTheMan 6y ago
  OK, so basically once you get reduced to poverty you get some care. Does medicare give you good quality care? Someone I know recently had cancer in Australia, they are wealthy but don't have private health insurance: so they went through the public system. It seemed like they got care that was just as good to be honest. Just not a private room.
  - refurb 6y ago
    If your income is low enough, you qualify for Medicaid (which is retroactive too so will pay past bills). If you're disabled by the disease and you qualify for Social Security Income you can get covered by Medicare. If neither of those are options, may hospitals provide charity care (where most or all of the bill is forgiven - they often try to get you on Medicaid as well). And if you're truly indigent and on the street, there are hospitals like SF General where you can get care. I'm not saying that navigating the system is easy or straightforward. But there are options out there. And bankruptcy laws vary by state, but typically they can't take your home, vehicles or your retirement savings.

01100011 6y ago

My ex mother in law was... a professional patient. She was morbidly obese, and over the 20 years I knew her had: - non-hodgkin's lymphoma - pulmonary blood clots - a section of her abdomen the size of a loaf of bread went necrotic after a suture migrated and pierced her intestines. - heart failure leading to constant oxygen - breast cancer and there's probably something else I'm forgetting. She was a deadbeat who managed to work about 6 months of her life. None of her major health problems started until after 40. She was a welfare mom who married a guy with a meth habit who worked at an automotive parts counter making peanuts. At no point was she ever denied care. She even spent around 6 months in the ICU at University of California Irvine and had amazing reconstructive surgery for the necrotic tissue. Of course she ate her way back to morbid obesity after getting a new lease on life. The US health care system seems to cause more issues for people with a little wealth, because it will happily take it all away. For people with nothing, in my personal experience, you can get great care.

refurb 6y ago

It depends on your situation. If you're low income, depending on your state, you might qualify for Medicaid, which will provide pretty close to the same care as private insurance. If that's not an option, many hospital provide charity care.