Surviving AmericanSurviving
American Medicine

The articles and news coverage of problems in how to access American medical care are described as health-care disparities. This is the policy-makers way of talking about poverty, joblessness, or racial/gender/age discrimination. These are all difficult problems to overcome if one is to get good medical care.

It is often stated that many of those conditions occur in a setting of less access to care. But more often, the feeling of less access is more a lack of knowledge of how to access care, since government agencies have programs in place to help. With funding from the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), more community resources and social workers will be publicizing the availability of Medicaid and health exchange options for low-cost medical insurance.

Here are my tips for getting the best medical care in those circumstances:

♦ Check if you are eligible for Medicaid (MediCal in California)
♦ Contact the state health department to speak with a social worker about where you can access medical care
♦ Contact your county health department or city health department to find out where community health centers are located and what transportation is available to you
♦ If you are feeling ill, go to the closest emergency room for evaluation
♦ At the emergency room, ask to speak with a hospital social worker to determine what programs are available for you.
♦ To find health insurance, contact a health insurance agent to see what low-cost programs you can afford

To get more information  about contacting your state health department and health insurance agents, see Section 4 Finding and Insuring Your Health Care in my new book Surviving American Medicine.