How to get colonoscopy w/o insurance?

You can get a colonoscopy without insurance. You will need it ordered by a doctor, obviously, but you just negotiate a cash payment.

Explain the situation and see what the facility can give you on a price. If they aren't too helpful, find another place.

A lot of people nowadays have high deductible insurance and that means paying a lot out of pocket anyway. Colonoscopies should rarely exceed $1500 out of pocket, and that is when insurance is factored in so rates tend to be higher. I would think you could get a colonoscopy for half that if it was a direct cash payment without the hassle of insurance filing.

I already have a lot of medical bills I didn't pay- collections people call me. My dad helped me pay for most of them;

however, back when I was with my ex (husband), he let a lot of the bills go. He was too busy drinking himself stupid all of the time and spending our money on alcohol and poker. I still suffer for his mistakes till this day. Also, I am literally poor. I don't pay for my own car insurance, cell phone, nor can I live out on my own. If I didn't live with my dad, I could be homeless. The only money I have managed to save up a bit now is with my boyfriend- which we are saving up to move out of this horrible state, and may also need to use some for a lawyer since my ex will not initiate our divorce... so I'm going to be forced to do it, even though I really shouldn't have to be spending the only money I have towards that!

But still being legally married screws with getting state assistance too, because they always assume that I'm still with him- and that I rely on him, his income, insurance, etc. They don't realize that I only rely on myself, and I am making $0 income. I keep trying to clear it up with them at the county assistance office, so they KNOW that I don't even know where he lives- we have been split up for over 4 yrs- he has not contacted me in 3 yrs - yada, yada, yada... but it still always seems to go against me. The woman today who I explained it to, looked at me as if I were lying!!! They're just idiots there.

SO, lots on my plate! I never know what to do! I will try to figure out how much a colonoscopy will cost me, but I normally can't even pay $75 just to go to my family doctor without insurance... which is why I let all of my infections go always instead of getting them treated!

Do you think they would definitely find something through a colonoscopy-- if I've been bleeding from the bowel for 3 yrs? Do you think it's very likely IBD? I get a lot of pus come out too, which often leaks into my pants I would feel stupid if I went through so much to get/ and pay for a colonoscopy, and then them not even find anything anyway...!

Eden

Once you find a doctor or facility and your colonoscopy is ordered, call the billing department and ask if they offer an approximate 50% lower price for same day pay (might be called self pay discount)- if I pay in cash or check, my out of pocket expense will be around $720 compared to approx. $1500 if I permit my GI doctor to bill my insurance, wait for the procedure to be rejected but applied towards my $2500.00 deductible.

My friend just did this. You can get a grant. Call your hospital for information.

Yes, everything that DB said. You are exactly who Medicaid is intended for, but you have to get legally divorced.

"The ACA insurance plans and subsidies are only for people who earn too much to be on medicaid."

You can get a policy without a subsidy and get covered almost right away. You only have to pay the first month. How much this costs will depend on age.There is(at least was) a issue with applying online at healthcare.com for low income people that can't get medcaid but want to pay for insuarnce so apply on the phone. You also may have a state exchange. Post what state you live in and I can get you a link to the correct number to call.

The best prices on colonscopies for cash are at large practices with a surgery center and they most likely will not bill you if you don't have insurance. You will have to call and negotiate a price then pay in cash before hand. Because you have symptoms this may mean a lot of money.

What uninsured poor people with zero funds normally do is go to the ER when they have a serious medical condition. Hospitals are required by law to stabilize your condition and they must find out what is wrong with you to do that. I'll bet that means they will get you a colonscopy. I would call ahead to hospitals in your area. Whether a large or small hospital would be better...I don't know. You will at least get medication and blood tests done.

"#2 You can go to hospitals as many times as you like and stiff them on bills unfortunately. The law states that hospitals cannot turn you down for financial reasons. This is why hospitals are overcharging so much on bills...they have to make up for that law. A hospital will not scope you there as part of an ER visit, they may admit you and do a work up that may include it, but if you've been walking around with this for 3 years, I don't know if you would qualify for admitting. (I manage a medical practice so I know these little facts)"

The hospitals opposed that law but it has worked out extremely well for them. ERs are the profit center of most every hospital. In fact inner city hospitals have been taken over by large hospital networks only to have acute care shutdown and the hospital becoming a free standing ER and outpatient clinic. Don't forget that cost shifting occurs from medcaid, medicare, tricare and large group plans to individual policy holders and cash payers. It's a huge scam because medcaid reimburses at a higher rate for serevices than any other country but reimburses at the lowest rate here. Charity care and unpaid bills are often less than 10% of revenue. I do know someone with crohns that got scoped at a rural ER by the on call surgeon. ER do refer out with poverty patients but that might not happen everywhere. You might get a really large bill though.

Honestly you sound very sick. You should have file for divorce by now and gotten your ducks in a row, but I 100% sympathize with you. When I'm flaring, I pretty much suck at life. My house is a mess, my kids watch too much tv, my hair is a tangled mess, I don't leave/can't leave the house for fear of pooping my pants in public. I am lucky and my DH is awesome and picks up my slack.

You have let both your unresolved divorce and your disease cripple you. The welfare office is an excellent resource but in exchange for services, you need to prove your need with a paper trail a mile long. The best thing to do is to finalize your divorce and then try again for Medicaid. You sound too sick for that though. You don't have three or four months to finalize that process and get insured.

You should go to the ER. I had flared undiagnosed for 10 months before I went to the hospital. I knew I had UC or crohns because I did visit with a GI doctor, but I was pregnant and didn't want to go under anesthesia for a colonoscopy, and my doc couldn't prescribe medication until I had a colonoscopy. Catch 22. I had a colonoscopy scheduled, but a week before my scheduled scope I broke down and went to the ER. They did a CT scan with contrast and decided to do a colonoscopy the next day. They gave me the option of doing the cleanse/prep at home, or to be admitted. I chose to go home for the prep but the next day after my colonoscopy I was admitted for a week. They got me out of my flare with steroids and Asacol.

If you are that sick, go to the hospital and try to get a diagnosis and get admitted to get you well. Get on the internet and figure out how to file/finalize your divorce. I'm not sure if Medicaid does back payments, but if not you can negotiate your hospital bills and then pay $20/month. Hopefully when you are well you can work and get your life back.

Please make better choices? I'm a responsible adult who does all I can for myself. I try to be independent the best I can despite needing a wheelchair for simple chores now. I try to work, but get fired because jobs are too physical for me to keep up with (can't find a desk job for the life of me- I keep trying). I got married when I was 21 to someone I knew since I was 15. I'm almost 27 now. People can change a lot in 6 years, thank you. I stopped dating idiots years ago, and finally have someone who supports me, is sensitive to me, and does what he can for me. For having serious mental disorders that are also untreated, I am doing quite well for myself considering that I found someone who is good to me. Growing up being abused in every way possible- including sexually, you don't always end up doing what's best for yourself in relationships when you're an adult either. But I do NOW, which is all that matters. I'm a 26 year old- almost 27- who doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, goes to college even though it's almost impossible for me some days- I still push myself to make something of myself and get straight A's. I spend all of my time either crying because of my pain or studying- it's all I do is study. I have no children because I'm poor and I won't bring a child into that. That's more than a lot of people can say.

And you tell me to make better choices?

Also, my dad always has to try to control everything... he's been telling me for yrs to not bother getting divorced. He's ridiculous. He thinks once I get divorced, a lot of my unpaid bills are going to come to me. But I already have collections people calling me anyway! And he just doesn't get how not being legally divorced has messed with my mind as well as my life...and trying to get myself assistance. I'm not listening to him anymore- I take my own life in my hands now.

But yes, as Peety said...I have never had luck with hospitals. I went in there years ago when I got fed up with my nystagmus (when my eyes rapidly shake back and forth on their own), along with other very serious neurological symptoms that I had no means of getting checked out. The nurse at in-take was very very concerned. She said I needed an MRI, etc. I had symptoms of having a brain tumor or MS.

Well, when they took me back into the ER, it was a different story. They acted like they wanted to get me out of there as soon as possible. They gave me a medication for the severe headache I had, and that was it. On my way they sent me home.

No MRI, nothing.

And I was never able to pay for the divorce. I am poor. I can't pay for my own car insurance, cell phone bill, nor can I live out on my own. If I didn't live with my dad, I could be homeless. I only go to college because it is completely 100% free for me through being poor, and this laptop was also 100% free through my financial aid $. I can't afford a smart phone like the rest of America. I try to work, but get fired a lot because i have cold after cold, infection after infection- lots wrong with my immune system. Employers don't want people who come in sick all the time- or have to call out.

What I have to do though is call a lawyer's office about doing Divorce By Publication. It's the only way... putting it in the newspaper. I don't know where he moved to. The last I saw him was on a bike, stumbling around on a freaking bridge. He's an alcoholic and I think he lost his car... probably his job.. I DOUBT he's doing well anymore.

But yes, he took me off of his insurance yeeears ago, even though- legally- I should have had it all along. I agree.

So I'm going to work on divorce by publication. It is supposed to be quite quick and simple. I won't be able to afford much else, nor can I do much of anything anyway, not knowing where he is. I'm certainly not going to have the $ for the lawyer to get a private detective to track him!

Eden

Are you still in PA? You have a separation divorce option if you are. It should be a fairly cheap thing to have drafted, and you will not have to mediate. If he does respond, it should be a quick hearing, but it sounds like he won't respond.


A two-year separation divorce: This is also a no-fault divorce. If one of the parties refuses to sign an affidavit consenting to the divorce, the other party can wait until the parties have been separated for two years. Then the party who wants the divorce can sign an affidavit stating that the parties have been separated for at least two years and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The affidavit must be served upon the other party. If that party fails to respond, the court can grant the divorce. However, if a counter-affidavit is filed denying the two-year separation or denying that the marriage is irretrievably broken, a hearing will be held and the court will decide if the parties are entitled to a divorce.

I don't think any of you "understand", lol! I don't let people talk to me that way though, so it is what it is. Isn't it funny when people think they know your whole story, when all this is is the internet... and they really know nothing about you? Lol

I'm the most "responsible" person I know in my 20's though, I'll tell you that! Everyone else is so fixated on partying and being stupid, when I'm here pushing myself to get through college and get straight A's-- despite being EXTREMELY sick. But I still haven't let these illnesses take complete hold of me! I refuse.

Tornado, yes, I am in the good ol' state of PA. This has been a horrible state for getting me help. Plan on moving some day to get myself a fresh start-- after I'm with community college and we have the savings to go!

The type of divorce you're speaking of sounds similar to what happens with a divorce by publication. I forget who let me know about it... but it's what sounds best in my situation. You have the lawyer's office keep publishing it in the newspaper, and if the ex does not respond within a certain amount of time, they grant me the divorce... because of him being MIA.

I never even knew anything like that existed until a bit ago! I come from a family of no divorces... so they were never able to suggest any options to me. I've gotten quotes from some lawyers that would have been way too much money- but I got the number of another one- a woman I know used him. So I'm giving him a call tomorrow!

Eden

OK, let's all just get along!

I stick by my first thing....if you get a divorce. concentrate on that and the rest will fall into place. You can get the medical help you need and the rest will start to come along just fine!