So, you just lost your health insurance…

Here are a few things you can start doing now to protect yourself.

I’m sorry to hear you lost your health insurance. That sucks.

The first 2 years and three months that I was self-employed I lived without insurance. During that time I also had a number of needs that required medical attention including but not limited to clinical depression and pregnancy. I learned a lot from navigating the system from the outside and now that you are an outsider, too, maybe you can take a couple tips from things I discovered along the way.

First and foremost: CASH IS KING.

More than any of what you are about to read below, you need to know this. Medical professionals have separate rates for patients who don’t have insurance. Those rates are, more often than not, extremely reasonable, because you are paying them as a provider directly. Even lesser known than the “out-of-pocket rate” is the reduced rate that many medical professionals also have (or agree to) for patients paying cash. You are entitled to request these rates (in writing) in advance of any appointment or procedure and please know that it is NOT an unreasonable request! You’ll be amazed what you’re able to learn simply by asking.

Second most important: PREVENTATIVE CARE is your new priority.

It is now more important than ever to maintain your health. Spend a little money up front to stay well, because if you don’t it will cost you a lot more on the back end. This means eat extremely clean. Exercise regularly. All of those things that you know that you “should” do? They are now must-dos. I also invested in acupuncture, supplements and natural medicine, and massage as maintenance.

Quick tips:

1. Use 3rd party blood labs (such as Quest) and have the results sent to your Dr. rather than having tests done on-site.
2. Ask your eye Dr. to write your prescription for 2 years instead of 1. They will.
3. You do not need dental x-rays every year. Get them done every 2.
4. Go to a NP for sick & well checks. (D.O.s are also good.) By nature they have more hands-on experience with many different day-to-day issues and are more likely to want to treat root causes and find alternative remedies (less influenced by Pharma).
5. Ask your Dr. about alternative procedures and medicines as well as the relative costs of each before agreeing to next steps. Hold them accountable for giving you options with pros and cons for each.
6. Look for community clinics for things like therapy. Seeing a psychiatrist is extremely expensive, but you can see a student therapist or life coach in training for low out-of-pocket costs.
7. Depending on your state, talk to a Dr. about a medical marijuana prescription. If you’re dealing with anxiety, headaches, insomnia, IBS, or any other mild-to-medium annoying issue, it is worth looking into marijuana as a more affordable and sustainable alternative to a pharmaceutical treatment.
8. Consider becoming a member of a medical collective such as OneMedical. While you’ll still have to pay uninsured rates for each visit, for less than $200 a year you’ll get 24/7 access to on-call nurses, telemedicine, and more. You can see doctors in other cities without having to jump through a bunch of hoops, too.

That’s it for now! Take a deep breath. You’re not alone and we are all going to help you through this.

And if you have any tips for living life uninsured, please share them below.