being poor in america

[luke viia]

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

[RichieBees]

i saw this video once of a guy removing a massive cyst or tumor thing he had growing on his torso. he was doing it in the mirror and stuff, and said on the description that it was too expensive to go to a doctor so he did it himself.

 

i thought that was p funny cus i can just walk into the walk in center about 5 mins away from where i live and get a doctors appointment extremely easily.

 

LAND OF THE FREE just dont be sick pls or else :S

[joshuatxuk]

I can't spend my whole life fighting this god damn system, i want to make the best of it and try to enjoy life.

 

I've more or less succumbed to this to. I wouldn't say I'm completely apathetic, but I strive to make the best of things and not be bitter when it doesn't help me do anything besides stress me out.

 

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

 

I'm the same way, I rather spend money on beer and bbq at my house or a friend's apartment than spending dozens, if not hundreds of dollars going to some overpriced bar downtown, as many of my peers who make similar income do every weekend. Same with eating out - I pack lunches and we eat at home all the time. My wife is awesome at cooking and she found this site year which has awesome cheap meal recipes. I like hanging around in my backyard and growing vegetables and herbs or walking my dog (I know pets are essentially a monthly cost but the happiness they give you is priceless). Frugality and thriftiness seems to be slowly re-surging. I've actually made little money repairing old electronics and selling them for reasonable prices on craigslist. We've become such a throw-away and convenience oriented society that I think a lot people simply waste money without realizing it (small part of our overall consumer oriented culture).

 

As for the medical bullshit and stress you go through luke, I think your story emphasizes just how much reform is still needed here in the U.S. Conservatives often cite your situation of not having insurance nor having government provided healthcare as some kind of "right" which is becoming more and more absurd. Lately I think the GOP is slowly falling apart in opposing expansion of programs - in fact the Florida governor flat-out changed his position and approved Medicaid expansion there - but I worry there's a long way to go.

[Alcofribas]

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

that sounds all too familiar. last year when i had a bad bike accident i encountered some of the same things. one "doctor" gave me a completely bogus diagnosis: i didn't need to wear a sling all day/night, i could return to work any time, no more pain meds were needed, she moved my broken arm in all kinds of inappropriate ways. then she went and consulted another doctor when i complained and came back with the exact opposite diagnosis (never take the sling off, return to work only if i could keep my arm entirely immobile, gave me a new script for pain pills, etc). this visit costs $120. for some one to basically give me 100% wrong advice. she basically treated me like I was there to cheat her for some pain pills.

 

i haven't come even close to paying the bills i owe. to top it off i deposited $300 in the emergency room and was assured this would go to the bill and would give me 75% off whatever remained after the $300. this never happened, the $300 was never deducted and no discount ever applied. they basically just took $300 from me in the emergency room and told me to fuck off.

 

sorry to derail, Luke's post just reminded me of how fucked that was.

[lumpenprol]

that wasn't as funny as your exai review

[Alcofribas]

lol

[Guest Iain C]

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

 

 

That is so fucked up. I went to A+E after smashing my face open and got six stitches in my face and three in my hand. While I was in there they picked up some heartbeat irregularities in my ECG and had me come in for an echocardiogram, and a third time for an MRI at the London Chest Hospital. Eventually they diagnosed me with minor left ventricular hypertrophy.

 

It didn't cost me a penny. I wasn't even registered with a GP. I dread to think what it would've cost me in the USA. It's actually nightmarish.

 

 

Redistribute the wealth and land every fifty years and forgive all debts every seven years.

That wouldn't work, because people would just live care-free and irresponsibly every seven years, and the wash their hands of it, whereas society would be left holding the bag.

 

This statement accurately describes why the parliamentary system we live under is bollocks.

[RichieBees]

That is so fucked up. I went to A+E after smashing my face open and got six stitches in my face and three in my hand. While I was in there they picked up some heartbeat irregularities in my ECG and had me come in for an echocardiogram, and a third time for an MRI at the London Chest Hospital. Eventually they diagnosed me with minor left ventricular hypertrophy.

 

It didn't cost me a penny. I wasn't even registered with a GP.

 

that sounds like a socialist nightmare m8

[J3FF3R00]

Lately I've been INCREDIBLY frustrated on these issues.

 

After college, I lived in squalor for years and it didn't seem un-manageable, but ever since re-locating, I've found it incredibly hard to deal with it.

It's much harder now because I had a successful carreer where I used to live and, after moving, it's all but evaporated.

Let me tell you, it's much harder to live without money when, at oune point, you didn't have any, then got to a point where you had it... and now you've gone backward and you don't have any again.

 

To answer the question...

I buy cheaper, less-healthy food.

I cook at home more

I eat fewer meals

I try to walk/ride a bike instead of driving, whenever I can.

I don't buy new clothes unless I find something ridiculously cheap and take more time to sew/repair damaged clothes.

I use my credit card more, which still isn't very often.

I try to find activities that don't cost anything in my free time.

I don't go to the doctor to get things checked out.

 

Also, when you get older, you have friends that have real jobs, houses and kids. When they want to hang out, I often have to turn them down because I simply can't afford to go out for dinner at a nice, or even moderately nice place. It sometimes makes me look/feel like a loser or an asshole, especially if it's someone's birthday and you know everyone will be ordering drinks at dinner and splitting the check at the end.

 

I get the feeling, talking to lots of people who work in different fields, that it seems like the direction our country is heading (or the world, for that matter) is one where it becomes increasingly difficult for people to make money doing whatever it was that once was lucrative.

If you aren't already set in a sound stream of cash, you really need to be shrewd, creative and/or open to new possibilities to make money these days.

 

 

God, I sound old. There is my rant for today.

[MisterE]

i thought that was p funny cus i can just walk into the walk in center about 5 mins away from where i live and get a doctors appointment extremely easily.

doctors don't work for free. someone would be paying for your doctors appointment. if you had less of other peoples' stuff that you were charged with paying for, you could have kept that money and paid for your own appointment, or got your own insurance policy. but now there is a whole bureaucracy that has to be made just to take your tax money, and redistribute it to where it goes. this is a middle-man, but it's a middle-bureaucracy which is worse. the actual act of collecting your tax dollars, and distributing it to the programs it needs to go to, that takes money, so that bureaucracy is now a thing that needs to be paid for with some of that tax money. so now some of the money that the people could have spent on their own healthcare, is going to a bureaucracy. this is basic, and it happens whether you understand it or not. government workers don't work for free.

you can say 'yeah but some people couldn't have afforded to get health insurance even without the government taking some of their money to support more and more massive bureaucracies (who now get to have control over your life by deciding what's covered and what quality of care you get, and eventually how you should be allowed to live), and other people's health care. they would have been without the care they need'. maybe so and that would be a fair thing to debate. but don't act like it's just a simple matter of 'free health care'. it's not free. that's a huge, massive oversimplification, to the extent of being dishonest.

that's beside the fact that when the government gets involved and says 'this is how it must be, you must provide health care, and you must provide insurace' then it removes a person's ability to shop around for different providers of different quality. it removes the market from the picture largely, because now the only people involved in the negotiation are doctors, insurance providers, and the government. i think it totally makes sense how much liberals love to give more and more power over their lives to the government, i mean, i'm sure that can't turn out bad...

RIGHT?

all we have to do is look at congress and see how honest those guys are. no chance they'd get involved in some shifty deal with the insurance providers/hospitals to fuck the people over, who have effectively been completely removed from having any say in any of this. oh but i'm sure the government will do right by us. they have proven that they can manage things so well lately.

[joshuatxuk]

Also, when you get older, you have friends that have real jobs, houses and kids. When they want to hang out, I often have to turn them down because I simply can't afford to go out for dinner at a nice, or even moderately nice place. It sometimes makes me look/feel like a loser or an asshole, especially if it's someone's birthday and you know everyone will be ordering drinks at dinner and splitting the check at the end.

 

I have this problem a bit still, though my close friends are really mindful of it and never hold it against me. My better friends, even financially secure ones, rather just hang out at home anyway. It was worse in college: I knew so many people whose parents paid for their rent, car payment, phone payment and tuition. I would get offended when they said "I'm broke" because literally all the money they made (if they even worked) or were simply given as allowance they could use on going out to concerts, restaurants, movies, etc or collecting records, random shit on ebay, new electronics. Whereas when I said "I'm broke" it was because my money earned from work was for me to eat and put a roof over my head.

 

Sorry to hear you've had to "go backward" - I'm actually trying my best with my wife to get rid of our debt and save money so we're more flexible in the future. Right now I'm grateful for my job and simply having one but I don't like feeling tied to it as many of my older co-workers do. I think what agitates me most about the U.S. is that everyone sees things are changing and that, well, making money just isn't what it used to be over the last few decades, but instead of adapting and looking to how our countries our politicians are stubbornly clinging to delusional rhetoric about how "we're still the best" and all problems are attributed to increasingly untruthful "problems" in policies and trends.

[RichieBees]

 

i thought that was p funny cus i can just walk into the walk in center about 5 mins away from where i live and get a doctors appointment extremely easily.

doctors don't work for free. someone would be paying for your doctors appointment. if you had less of other peoples' stuff that you were charged with paying for, you could have kept that money and paid for your own appointment, or got your own insurance policy. but now there is a whole bureaucracy that has to be made just to take your tax money, and redistribute it to where it goes. this is a middle-man, but it's a middle-bureaucracy which is worse. the actual act of collecting your tax dollars, and distributing it to the programs it needs to go to, that takes money, so that bureaucracy is now a thing that needs to be paid for with some of that tax money. so now some of the money that the people could have spent on their own healthcare, is going to a bureaucracy. this is basic, and it happens whether you understand it or not. government workers don't work for free.

you can say 'yeah but some people couldn't have afforded to get health insurance even without the government taking some of their money to support more and more massive bureaucracies (who now get to have control over your life by deciding what's covered and what quality of care you get, and eventually how you should be allowed to live), and other people's health care. they would have been without the care they need'. maybe so and that would be a fair thing to debate. but don't act like it's just a simple matter of 'free health care'. it's not free. that's a huge, massive oversimplification, to the extent of being dishonest.

that's beside the fact that when the government gets involved and says 'this is how it must be, you must provide health care, and you must provide insurace' then it removes a person's ability to shop around for different providers of different quality. it removes the market from the picture largely, because now the only people involved in the negotiation are doctors, insurance providers, and the government. i think it totally makes sense how much liberals love to give more and more power over their lives to the government, i mean, i'm sure that can't turn out bad...

RIGHT?

all we have to do is look at congress and see how honest those guys are. no chance they'd get involved in some shifty deal with the insurance providers/hospitals to fuck the people over, who have effectively been completely removed from having any say in any of this. oh but i'm sure the government will do right by us. they have proven that they can manage things so well lately.

i didnt say it was free healthcare dickhead also dont call me a fuckin liberal lololol ill get back to ur other points later :>

[Meadows and Labyrinths]

well i'm currently sort of in between work, i was fired a few months ago.. but i've been filling in the spaces. i have some gigs here and there that let me coast along, and i'm trying to make a living somehow with my musical/artistic interests, but it's a way slower-burning process than it needs to be to fully support myself off it. i'm close, but no cigarillos. so i've been kind of living off of my tax return for the past two months or so, while selling a few albums here and there, and working a little over a day a week where i totally get overpaid for very little work. i've been getting by, and honestly, i really like the pace i have now, and the free time. but it's a vacation and it's almost time to get back to the real world.. at least in part. everything is up in the air, i'm half living the dream, half bullshitting myself.. i've learned a lot from this time off, but i'm looking forward to going back to work. the lifestyle i live isn't very financially demanding, and i live pretty well by my standards. i have tv/cable, electric, car insurance and a phone bill. i'm thinking about cutting the phone bill out by using google voice.. i have a bottle of wine maybe once a week, and i get my groceries with food stamps. but i'm not making any progress with money, at least not right now. i'm not saving up for a house, which is really the only thing i want. so the reality is, i need to return to full time work and start saving so i can create a future for myself.... ugh... but my bed is so comfortable..

[MisterE]

well richie i took your land of the free comment to be a double meaning type of thing referencing the 'free health care' you get. maybe i gave you too much credit? .... or not enough? i dont know i'm confused now.

 

actually i think that's what you did mean, but whatever

 

why you gotta call me a dickhead though? even i have feelings too, numbnuts

[Joyrex]

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

You might want to look into community clinics - typically the healthcare there is much more reasonable price-wise, and would save money on situations like the above - obviously they won't help where serious medical attention is required, but then they can refer you to a specialist if it's something beyond the facilities' capabilities.

 

I have a real problem with health care costs, especially when me and my family have been healthy and almost never need to go to the doctor, etc. - why pay outrageous sums each month (around 450 USD in my case), and then, just to use the damn insurance, have to pay either a co-pay or a deductible that is typically 500-2000 USD on top of the monthly costs, and then, the final kick in the samosas is they only pay a percentage 65-80% of the total costs, so you're still left with more to pay out of pocket. Even options like major medical insurance (low monthly, very high deductible) is still far too expensive.

 

And don't even get me started on the pharmaceutical companies and modern medicine...

[SR4]

i finally got accepted into a phd program that is going to cover my health insurance....best news ive heard in years....going without insurance is not fun...i got food poisoning and long story short almost died in the ER from severe dehydration/blood loss. im still paying those bills off.

[Braintree]

I'm the poorest right now that I've been in like four years. I stopped teaching and I'm mainly relying on A/Vgigs to survive while I try to switch careers. I did a sound design gig a couple months ago and still haven't been paid for it. I'm really tired of living like this.

[Dale]

All I can add to this thread is wait until technological unemployment really takes off. Then we'll see some much needed change in the economic system.

 

edit: Also, I feel sorry for many Americans who have to listen to the pathetic rhetoric from old time conservatives/Republicans, going on about how a socialised healthcare system would be a terrible thing to install in the country. The NHS is an excellent institution and I hope some day, the American people manage to install a socialised healthcare system.

[Braintree]

I think there's an even larger gap in mentality between our politicians and us, and the politicians they had when they were our age. Sometimes, I think the only real solution is to wait for them to die off.

[Dale]

Fortunately, conservatism just isn't socially reinforcing to young people today in the 21st century. In fact, things seem to be going the other way - collectivism and the idea of sharing/cooperating is much more reinforcing to younger people today. An example is how we all interact with one another through the internet. We form online communities, exchange files free of charge, conduct collaborative projects online (whether it's music/film or any other type of media). I'm quite optimistic that conservative values are on the way out - they have no place in a century where technology is really going to be pushed forward in many areas of society.

[Hoodie]

i volunteer at a free clinic. i have heard many horror stories. for example, emergency rooms will not admit you unless you are on the brink of death. i heard about this woman who lost her job and insurance right after she found out she had breast cancer. a mere consultation would have been hundreds of dollars at the cancer center and the hospital couldn't do anything for her because she wasn't "dying." when she got sick enough to be admitted (like a year later), it was too late. cancer had metastasized all over her body. she died.

[LimpyLoo]

only in America (first world country-wise)

[Npoess]

i volunteer at a free clinic. i have heard many horror stories. for example, emergency rooms will not admit you unless you are on the brink of death. i heard about this woman who lost her job and insurance right after she found out she had breast cancer. a mere consultation would have been hundreds of dollars at the cancer center and the hospital couldn't do anything for her because she wasn't "dying." when she got sick enough to be admitted (like a year later), it was too late. cancer had metastasized all over her body. she died.

 

Fuck me.

 

Sometimes I'm so glad that I don't live in 'merica.

[luke viia]

 

If only medical debt was that easy. If I go get my heart checked - which I need to do, btw, but cannot afford to - it would cost me at least $5,000-10,000. Why? I don't fucking know. Because I don't have insurance. Yeah, I could pay measly amounts every month for years, but why? It doesn't make sense to get preventive care when it costs that much, so, guess what? I only get care when I'm already hurt. Terrible system. Last time I broke a bone it cost me $1100 just to have a doctor confirm that it was broken and to get a plastic boot to put my foot in. This was after seeing another doctor who charged me for three x-rays and a visit ($260) and then told me my leg wasn't broken (which caused me to try walking on it for a week, fracturing it even worse), and followed his diagnosis with "Ice is nice, liquor is quicker -- have a nice hop home." Then he gave me six vicodin, and when I asked for more a few days later, he accused me of running him for pills. I still refuse to pay that $260 bill, and they still call me about it roughly once a year. I threaten them with legal action every time, and they hang up. Point being, not having insurance is lame and I shouldn't have to fight just to avoid getting scammed by the system.

 

I'm poor in America, and yeah... punk ethos. I've always been poor, and don't really intend to ever be rich, but basically I'm just frugal, don't go out, and when I do see my friends, we do free things like jam or get drunk on long walks.

You might want to look into community clinics - typically the healthcare there is much more reasonable price-wise, and would save money on situations like the above - obviously they won't help where serious medical attention is required, but then they can refer you to a specialist if it's something beyond the facilities' capabilities.

 

I have a real problem with health care costs, especially when me and my family have been healthy and almost never need to go to the doctor, etc. - why pay outrageous sums each month (around 450 USD in my case), and then, just to use the damn insurance, have to pay either a co-pay or a deductible that is typically 500-2000 USD on top of the monthly costs, and then, the final kick in the samosas is they only pay a percentage 65-80% of the total costs, so you're still left with more to pay out of pocket. Even options like major medical insurance (low monthly, very high deductible) is still far too expensive.

 

And don't even get me started on the pharmaceutical companies and modern medicine...

 

The three community clinics (two of which were certainly not in my own "community"!) I've petitioned for an appointment are no longer accepting new patients (too swamped already, they've told me). I've been trying to get my teeth worked on (I need replacement composite resin caps, mine are beginning to fail and it's fairly alarming) and no clinic will take me. A regular dentist's fees for what I need costs anywhere from $700-1400 per tooth (two teeth for me), so I've held off. Thanks for the advice though, and to the people with similar stories & healthcare woes - sorry to hear it's happened to you too! Still not sure how our new national healthcare plan is going to work out in practice, but we'll see...

[luke viia]

i finally got accepted into a phd program that is going to cover my health insurance....best news ive heard in years....going without insurance is not fun...i got food poisoning and long story short almost died in the ER from severe dehydration/blood loss. im still paying those bills off.

 

 

That's nuts dude, I'm glad you're still with us.

 

 

oh, and one last thing! @joshua: thank you for that budget bytes link, I looked at it, thought it was awesome, showed it to my gf, and she got all sorts of excited. Fancy new cheap meals for us. That's what I'm talking about.