Health Insurance?

[bonebroke]

Planning to hike next year and was wondering about medical insurance. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with their insurance. How would you pay for sprained ankle, giardia or other possibilities. Im hiking on a small budget and an ER visit could put me off trail for good. Any suggestions. Thank in advance.

[Smooth & Wasabi]

I don't remember the details but in 2002 my wife and I had temporary catastrophic insurance. It only cost like 300 bucks for sixth months for both of us. It was a high deductible a couple thousand I think and we were in our mid twenties but it provided the peace of mind that if we were hospitalized during that time we would not incur insurmountable amounts of debt. Not a lot of detail but I am sure if you google it you will find something the might work.

[doritotex]

Sigh!!!! You are 51 years old and have no health insurance? I guess you can let the tax payers pay for your ER visit, or maybe just gamble that you will never need it. The trail is no different from the real world. What if you step off the curb wrong and break your ankle? "I'm hiking on a small budget"...well, welcome to the world of mooching!

[The Solemates]

Sigh!!!! You are 51 years old and have no health insurance? I guess you can let the tax payers pay for your ER visit, or maybe just gamble that you will never need it. The trail is no different from the real world. What if you step off the curb wrong and break your ankle? "I'm hiking on a small budget"...well, welcome to the world of mooching!

no kidding. no one takes responsibility for themselves anymore. but why should they when govmint gives handouts? insurance is a luxury, not a right. I wish hospitals would start turning people away.....and I work in the healthcare industry and rely on these same people if that tells you anything!

[Panzer1]

Everyone approaches health insurance the same way:
If you can afford health insurance, then buy it.
If you can't afford it, then don't buy it.

Panzer

[Spokes]

When I did my 2009 thru, a small laceration on my knee got infected and required treatment so I got off in Gorham, NH and went to Andrscoggin Valley Hospital. Cleared up after a regiment of oral antibiotics. The trip to the hospital wasn't cheap but my insurance covered it no problem.

If you have a smartphone, see if your insurance provider has an app. Mine does, and it makes looking up preferred providers/health services a breeze.

Oh, kudo's to the great ER staff there at Androscoggin. Two of the nurses signed my trailjournals guestbook before I could even get back to my motel room!

[DapperD]

Planning to hike next year and was wondering about medical insurance. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with their insurance. How would you pay for sprained ankle, giardia or other possibilities. Im hiking on a small budget and an ER visit could put me off trail for good. Any suggestions. Thank in advance.

Here's some previous threads on Whiteblaze regarding health insurance:http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...l=1#post781391

[bonebroke]

no kidding. no one takes responsibility for themselves anymore. but why should they when govmint gives handouts? insurance is a luxury, not a right. I wish hospitals would start turning people away.....and I work in the healthcare industry and rely on these same people if that tells you anything!

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I need a supplemental insurance. My copay for is 1500. Most events on the trail would come in under this amount. Id rather pay alittle more monthly than one lump sum. When I raced bikes, the club had health insurance for all participants. Perhaps someone with more than just an opinion, (actual knowledge) could reply.

[Echraide]

When I did my thru I had my regular health insurance and kept $2000 in an account as emergency funds for my hike. It didn't occur to me to get catastrophic in addition but I think it's a good idea.

[Trailbender]

Sigh!!!! You are 51 years old and have no health insurance? I guess you can let the tax payers pay for your ER visit, or maybe just gamble that you will never need it. The trail is no different from the real world. What if you step off the curb wrong and break your ankle? "I'm hiking on a small budget"...well, welcome to the world of mooching!

Not mooching at all, healthcare is much too expensive, there is no reason it should not be affordable for everyone. Not free, but affordable. I looked into a ton of healthcare plans, I am 31, in great shape, no bad habits, and the monthly amount they were asking for minimal coverage was outrageous. The deductible was crazy, as well. I have VA healthcare, so it was more an excercise of curiosity than anything else.

no kidding. no one takes responsibility for themselves anymore. but why should they when govmint gives handouts? insurance is a luxury, not a right. I wish hospitals would start turning people away.....and I work in the healthcare industry and rely on these same people if that tells you anything!

Hospitals should not turn people away. "Sorry, you can just die because you can't give us green paper", that is truly absurd. They are a human being in need of help, they are not worthless just because they don't have money. That is a sad thought in our greedy, materialistic world.

[Theosus]

The problem with ERs is a lot of poor and indigent people use them for a family doctor. Baby coughing at 2am? Go to the ER. Ear infection? ER. Got a sinus infection? ER. It drives up costs and wait times for real emergencies. My local hospital has two ER waiting rooms, regular and "express".If you have health insurance, guess where you go?I broke my foot last year. Went to the ER for x-rays and a Cast. I was sent to express and was checked and discharged before most of the others were seen. Unfortunately I didn't know - they don't cast a broken foot any more in the ER. They make sure your foot is still getting blood and no nerves are damaged, then they send you home still messed up, to see an orthopedic doc. I should have stayed home.Two weeks ago I had a kidney stone (I thought. First one - my friends told me to go). Same deal. Express service for me, same coughing babies still in waiting room three hours later. And of course, if someone came in stabbed or shot, I would expect to have to wait for them to go first. I got clubbed over the head once and went right in and got my head stapled closed. It's nice to go first.So, I know what matters to hospitals, but of course I know they charge me $5000 because a lot of the coughing babies bills will go unpaid. Ive always paid my part, even if it took a few years (in the case of my daughters c-section birth it was two years before I paid that whole bill).They can turn people away. All they have to do is provide life-saving treatment. After that legally if you aren't in immediate danger of death, you can get sent home.

[Toolshed]

....Hospitals should not turn people away. "Sorry, you can just die because you can't give us green paper", that is truly absurd. They are a human being in need of help, they are not worthless just because they don't have money. That is a sad thought in our greedy, materialistic world.

So, Hospitals don't turn people away in emergent conditions, based on ability to pay. They can turn them away for the purposes of continuing care, which is a whole different matter, but most cannot and do not for emergent care. Most community hospitals and large hospital systems are not for profit (there are a few that are "for profit") and as a reult of the communites they serve and the restrictions they serve under, have to treat all in emregencies.
Now, the flip side - Why should my taxes go up and my community have to pay for some bozo that needs heart surgery after he/she decided to take a risk and forego health insurance? (I am speaking of a non-urgent situation here).
By the way, I was in the miitary and I was promise free health care for life.. They changed the rules after I got out. Free for life yeah.... but only if I am indigent. IMMHO I would rather pay for my own care rather than go destitute and end up in the VA....

[Northern Lights]

I have supplemental insurance even for my section hikes. It costs me about 80.00 for the year and there is no out of pocket expenses. They cover everything. Won't leave home without it.

[Phoenix Rising]

I/m not getting into the debate of healthcare in the US...

I did one hike with a basic plan but even when I went to the Dr on that hike I did not use it and paid out of pocket because I knew if I had any claims I would be denied for renewal coverage ans I knew I wanted to option to renew.

The second hike I chose to go without coverage (and still haven't had insurance since 09). I did make 2 trips to seek medical help, once for xrays after a long bout with a shin splint and once for Lyme, both times I chose to find a family Dr in the town I was in because I knew they would be more willing to work with me in payments and possibly a "hiker-rate" (which many of them offer). Granted if I had a true emergency I would have been in trouble... but I guess at this point, since I haven't had insurance for over 6 mos, due to the new healthcare law I can opt to purchase it when I am admitted.

When in the small towns always see the local Urgent Care (or similar) or even better yet the Family Practitioner!

[10-K]

If you make $25k per year, work for an employer who does not offer health insurance and have a history of cancer, diabetes, or any number of other preexisting conditions - go try and buy you some health insurance....

But I digress....

I have BCBS an got hurt on a hike and had to go to the ER. They accepted my insurance, $100 co-pay and I was done.

[GregoryK]

If you don't have insurance, you could always get short term health insurance. It will help cover any unexpected emergencies that could put you into a hospital. It's kind of similar to travel insurance when you travel overseas but it cover anything catastrophic in the U.S. like when you're on the trail.

[moocow]

insurance is the way to go.

got off the trail around feb. 20th. went to the er and got a bunch of tests done $50 copay. came home first to see the primary $30 copay. then saw the cardiologist and did all of his tests $35 copay. insurance has already said that all the bills are covered in full.
thousands of dollars worth of treatment for the low low price of $115. sounds like a deal.

hospitals may be forced to treat you, but they only have to stabalize you. its the specialists you have to worry about after the hospital says something really is wrong and you need to get checked up on for more analysis. that's what you get insurance for.

i like the idea that in my case i didn't go to the hospital just to get a bandaid for a debilitating heart condition that they couldn't confirm while in the er, then hopped back on the trail a few days later only to have something happen a hundred miles up the trail; and be the topic of the whiteblaze post you see a couple of times a year "death at such and such shelter".