My son, ulcerative colitis and no insurance

Pay out of pocket to see a GI doctor. They can't turn you away if you're willing to pay. I would imagine a consult would cost you between 200 and 500 dollars. Get a prescription for the medication he needs. If it is prednisone, that probably won't cost much but he most likely will need 5asa meds to maintain his remission and they are expensive. Fortunately, Asacol is made by P&G and they have an incredible Patient Assistance program which would make his medication free.

Check out this link:

http://www.pgpharma.com/patient_assistance.shtml

You can call them for more info.

I am not sure how severe his UC is. Has he ever had a colonoscopy? It is helpful to get biopsies, I imagine he had them before his diagnosis. I managed to get a free colonoscopy through a clinical trial. Clinical trials are a good way to get free doctors appointments and medication. Some of them are for well known drugs. You should look into it.

He may also need rectal meds. A lot of the manfacturers of these medications have patient assistance programs where you can get the drugs for next to nothing if you're income is below a certain level.

Every city has free clinics and at least he could see a primary care and get started there.  They will help with assistance for medication, etc.

ElaineNY

Go online and look up free medication. I did it and it works. They mail you a form that your doctor fills out. Your doctor has to sign that you have no medical coverage. That's all it takes. I forget what company I used but they are all over the place. They are non-profit and only in it to help people who are ill.

I got free Asacol mailed to me. Ninety days worth completely free!!! That's really incredible when you think of the cost.

Good luck,
John

Perhaps you should forward this to the House minority leader who said everyone in America has health care.

Medicaid would be his best bet if he qualifies but that would not be a quick solution. You don't say what his financial situation is if he is destitute he could show up at the emergency room like most poor people without insurance do he has to be treated by law. If he has some money this would be bad as he will be billed outrageous amounts and should as another poster said get an appointment with a general practitioner or free clinic just to get a prescription. The cheapest med would be sulfasalazine if he can tolerate it and depending on the dose could cost as little as $20 a month.

Ask about getting a subscription for Sulfasalazine generic, it is only like $18 for a month supply at Walmart, as long as he isn't allergic to sulfa and see if it helps. All other Colitis drugs are insainly expensive, thanks to our friendly drug companies.

Keep watching the diet and looking for natural cures to help as well. Stress makes it worse too.

Crazycolitis, no medicaid don't cover specialists but they do cover appts to general practice docs where one can still go in and get on medication.

Look up to see if you have state insurance available for your son. I was in the same situation not long ago before i discovered that the state of california offers a MRMIP (major risk medical insurance program). I now have insurance through Kaiser that I pay roughly $300 a month for.

As for immediate relief, go to a GI and pay out of pocket. Im sure they'll prescribe him some prednisone but want him to take a colonoscopy before putting him on a longterm schedule of medications. You can also try some enemas to see if that causes him any relief.