Health care
Something that always sends a shiver up my spine is when a client tells me they rejected an ambulance ride because they feared what the cost would do to them.
I even have clients who literally fought their way off gurneys, because they were afraid of financial ruin.
And I regularly have clients who report removing their own stitches.
Remember that if you are a city resident, you are most likely not going to get billed for the ride to the hospital.
Once you get to the hospital, of course, the charges start adding up. If you are poor enough, you will be offered an opportunity to sign up for AHCCCS, “Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System,” which will theoretically pay your bills.
If you are not poor enough, you are going to have medical bills. A terrible feature of our system is that people get billed through the roof for things they may not need, but are not necessarily in a condition to make a good judgment about at the time. And, a little-known fact about our allegedly first-rate health care system is that uninsured people will be charged more, a lot more, than insured people for the same procedure. This is because insurance companies bid for hospital care, which individuals cannot do. The result is that the people who can least afford health care pay the most for it.
My advice? Please do not fight your way off a gurney if you are injured in an accident. You may need that emergency room care, no matter how much it will cost you. Call a friend immediately and ask them to accompany you and help you with the decisions you will have to make.
Second, if you have driver’s insurance but you don’t have health insurance, get as much underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage as you can afford. Make sure it will cover you on your bike (it likely will). That stuff will kick in to help you in your bike accident.
And third, ride safely! Use your lights, people! Put a handbrake on that thing!
Health insurance is, sadly, far out of reach for many of my clients. It’s something that makes this country less than first-rate, in my opinion, that we cannot assure basic health care for all our citizens, and I cringe when I hear lawyers making these awful arguments about how, since health care is not in the constitution, it would be fundamentally un-American to offer it to all American people.
Oh and one other thing. You know what is more likely to get you than that SUV? Skin cancer. Wear your sunscreen out there.
–Erik Ryberg
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Great advice, Eric. I had a solo accident a couple years back, and like you said, I was embarrassed by the accident and all the spectators, and just wanted to get back on my bike and ride home. Fortunately, the EMTs insisted on taking me to the ER; I was bleeding internally, and probably wouldn’t have survived the 7 mile ride back. So if the professionals say go, then go.
And you’re right about the auto insurance. When I was hit by a car, my auto insurance paid every penny, including physical therapy at one of the top sports medicine clinics in L.A.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
“Health insurance is, sadly, far out of reach for many of my clients.”
Does that include high-deductible plans that can be coupled with HSAs? Shopping around I was quoted between $100 and $200 per month for personal coverage.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:06 am
The problem with HSAs is that they require you to blow through thousands of dollars of your life savings before the insurance covers *anything.* And, even then, there are coverage limits and exclusions.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:48 am
There will be a tipping point when people start to take things into their own hands because of inaction by the police & state lawmakers. If someone killed anyone I cared about, I can’t say it wouldn’t cross my mind. Higher fines and tougher laws are great, but largely meaningless (to you) if you’re severely injuried or dead!
July 25th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
see, erik. this right here is why i like being in the “poor enough” category.
July 26th, 2009 at 10:59 am
For a lot of people “$100 – $200 a month” is the difference between being able to eat and pay bills or have those 2nd and third notices showing up as you eat ramen…again. Health care in this country sucks! Also, even if you have health insurance chances are they will come after YOU for the money thay paid out if your treatment was for injuries sustained in an auto accident…