I need help

[tia]

Hi!
 Can someone please tell me how much it costs for each dialysis when someone doesnt have insurance?
~TIA

[Rerun]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it~    

I have no idea.  They charge about $20,000 a month just for dialysis and then another $20,000 for Epogin.  My insurance doesn't pay that much.  It is a Medicare Program, so if you live in the states, you will have "some" coverage.

[tia]

Thanks. Its for a friend. I live in the states but he has recently come here. He was not getting anywhere with dialysis in his country and they gave him Hep C as a reward for being their patient by using some infected needles.   He has come here to try and get back his life. But its upsetting that it seems like it might not work since he doesnt have insurance. But he wants to explore all sorts of opportunities he might have in the States.

[Sara]

Can he work?  Could he get a job with health coverage and then try to get Medicare?  Do you know if he can get Medicare without being a citizen or permanent resident?

[tia]

Right now his friends + family is supporting him,  he has been in the hospital for the last 2 months ever since he came here. He would try to find a job after he is  better.  He probably can't get coverage unless he was a permanent resident.

[Rip1]

I would recommend that you talk to the Social Worker at the hospital, or at a dialysis center. They would know what options are available for him, and would help you to avail him of them. Hope this helps.

[GuyIncognito]

I would reccommend moving to Canada

[sandman]

I would reccommend moving to Canada

Don't you need to become a Canadian citizen to get on OHIP?

[thom]

glad i live in the uk, that's fo' shizz'.

[ArmyRN]

The State where he is located may help with emergency insurance. In California even if you are illegal you can get emergency Medi-Cal which will cover the dialysis treatments.

[stauffenberg]

Unfortunately, the option of moving to Canada does not exist, since Canada has a medical exclusion rule for anyone planning to emigrate to the country.  If the applicant suffers from a medical condition "which is likely to impose an excessive burden on the public health care system," then unless that applicant is a member of the immediate family of a landed immigrant or citizen of Canada, he will be exluded.  In fact, he may not even be able to get a visa to visit Canada, the rules are so strict and, in my view, cruel.

One desperate option would be to travel to the United Kingdom.  While Canada only gives out free medical care to people with a health card, and gives health cards only to its citizens and landed immigrants, the United Kingdom has no comparable system.  The only check on whether someone is entitled to access their free healthcare system is to ask the patient if he is "ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom," and if the patient says yes, he is entitled to treatment.  The first step, however, is to go to a general practitioner and sign up with him as a registered patient, since he has to refer you for dialysis.  He will be the one to ask you whether you are ordinarily resident or not.  Recently, there has been great public concern in Britain over the racism implicit in British citizens being suspected by health officials of not being residents because they are of South Asian or Arabic descent, so now doctors tend to be very cautious about doubting such people's claims.

I was a student in Britain for many years and worked there for many years after that, and no medical personnel ever questioned my statement that I was ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or even asked to see any documentary proof, despite my audible non-English accent.

[Python]

At the moment there is a lot of public outcry about immigrants coming here for "free" medical treatment when our own people are having to wait months and even years for treatment.  Our NHS is barely coping as it is and I believe there either is or will be a crackdown on immigrants coming here for treatment.

[redheadedangel]

I can not imagine the USA turning anyone away. If he is already hospitalized then he must be considered under indigent care which will get him the care he needs while in the hospital. Immigrations may be able to assist him if he is here legally. All physicians in the hospital and hospital accept a certain amout of indigent care patients.That would most likely place him in the medicaid assistance proogram. Is he legal? Sassy

[angieskidney]

I would reccommend moving to Canada

Don't you need to become a Canadian citizen to get on OHIP?

Jeff, OHIP is only in Ontario as it stands for Ontario Health Insurance Plan and you only get it if you have been a resident for at least 6 months. All the Provinces have their own health coverage just like in the US all the States have thier own State things..

[sandman]

I would reccommend moving to Canada

Don't you need to become a Canadian citizen to get on OHIP?

Jeff, OHIP is only in Ontario as it stands for Ontario Health Insurance Plan and you only get it if you have been a resident for at least 6 months. All the Provinces have their own health coverage just like in the US all the States have thier own State things..

Okay, let me rephrase the question.  Don't you need to become a Canadian citizen to receive Canadian health care?  Or will a residency work?

[stauffenberg]

To be eligible for free healthcare in Canada you either have to be a citizen or a landed immigrant, which is a status similar to what is called 'permanent residency' in the United States.  To be eligible to become a citizen or permanent resident in Canada, however, you have to pass a very strict health exam which excludes everyone who, in the opinion of the immigration officials, "is likely to place an excessive demand on the healthcare services."  Some of those who have been excluded are children with Down's Syndrome, type 1 diabetics, people who have had cancer but have been cancer-free for more than 5 years (usually considered evidence of their being 'cured' by the medical profession) and renal patients.  The only chance of getting into the Canadian healthcare system would be if you could enter Canada as a refugee, which you now can't do if you have a 'safe haven' in another country, such as the U.S., or if you are a member of the immediate family of someone who is already a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant.