My father has cirrhosis and he does not qualify for medical but cannot afford insurance, anything he can do?

Question

he needs a transplant of the liver but he is not even on a waiting list because of not having medical or insurance. buying insurance with his medical condition is almost impossible. He has not missed any doctors appointments but he feels worse everyday. I feel helpless.

Answer 1

I am sorry to hear about his plight. I am assuming he is not a veteran, and is not Native American (both offer healthcare free of charge). You do have several options available, but it may take several phone calls on your part. So grab a phone book to the nearest large city to you. Find a med. school. Most universities with med schools offer med care on a sliding fee scale. The interns and residents assist the physicians in treating the patients, and are overseen by fully licensed, credentialed docs, so you are safe there. There should also be a community health clinic in your area. These are also on a sliding fee scale. They are good clinics - most of the docs that practice there go to work for them because they get to practice real medicine, and are not mandated by insurance and formularies. I know - I served on the board of directors for one for several yrs. If you can't find one, call your local state representative, or start with your mayor's office or county commissioner. Also, call your local hospital and ask for social services. Then tell the social worker you need some advice, and tell her/him your situation. They will probably be able to give you several numbers to call. All of these can help you find care, but as far as funds for a transplant, I would suggest you may have to find a doctor willing to tell you what the cost will be up front, and get a fund raiser going for your father. I live in a small town in the midwest, and we do this sort of thing all the time. You'll see signs for bean dinners and spaghetti dinners put on by churches, the volunteer fire dept., the Elks lodge, or just a group of people who care, and jars on the counter in stores (for spare change) with someone's picture needing a kidney transplant, etc. I've even seen walkathons, where people join up and get others to sponsor them for a certain amount per mi., then that money goes to the transplant fund, set up in a bank as "transplant fund". A major key here is good publicity. Get on every news channel you can - call your news channel and speak to the human interest reporter. Tell them what you are doing. If they aren't interested, come up with something wild that you can get sponsored to do that they will want to cover, and make sure they let the public know they can donate to the "John Smith Transplant Fund" at XYZ Bank. Call the radio shows - especially the morning shows when people are in their cars stuck in traffic. You may even be able to get invited to speak on a couple of them. Promote everything you do for this - walkathon, bean dinner, etc. Appeal to the warm, soft, fuzzy human side of people. You will be suprised. Don't forget newspaper articles - grab your Sunday paper and look at who does the human interest stories. Call them - you can email, but you will probably get further with a phone call. They will want to cover it, too. Do you have any music celebrities from your area? Contact them and see if they'd consider doing a benefit concert in your area. The worse that can happen is they say no. How about public speakers? You might get them to donate a speaking engagement that you can charge $10.00 per person for, and just pay $50.00 - $100.00 to rent a hotel meeting room. A sports person (or even the local college coach) might offer to donate a few hours to train kids/give pointers on their sport to local kids, and allow you to charge the parents a nominal fee for the training. A local school or college will probably allow you to use their facility, and maybe even the concession stand, which is another good fund raiser. You can raise a lot of money these ways. It's work, but if you enlist relatives and friends, it can be done. Good luck, and God bless!

Answer 2

I understand that buying insurance is almost impossible
with his pre-existing condition. You should inquire about
the patient advocacy program included with the mysimplecard
membership. They might be able to do the legwork for you
in negotiating with the hospital on behalf of your father. Give
it a shot. You have nothing to lose. Time is of essence.

Answer 3

If you're in the USA, can he apply for Medicaid? Medicare? (dk how old he is)...

Answer 4

seek for a program charity in your hometown and they will help you pay for your bills. my husband did it and was help out. try it.