If I cancel my health insurance can my doctor refuse to treat me?

Question

My husband is self-employed so our health ins is very expensive. I am thinking of going without it.

Answer 1

He can refuse to treat you, unless you present yourself to him with a life threatening emergency, then he has to treat you.

Answer 2

I work for a physician and your question has a complicated answer. If you go to a hospital they cannot refuse you no matter what your circumstances are. If you go to a physician that is affiliated with a hospital then most likely they cannot refuse you either. But, if you choose to go to an idependent physician. Which would be a doctor that has his/her own practice (self employed) they can refuse you if you are unable to pay. Most of the time they will tell you up front that if you don't have insurance coverage that you have to pay in full at the time of service. If unable to pay you can reschedule until you have the funds to pay.
My personal answer to you is that you should never ever go without health insurance. Health Insurance is your key to survival today. With out it you could be denied treatment or discharged from a hospital too soon due to the hospital not wanting to get stuck with your bill.
If your insurance premium is too costly then you should seriously consider downgrading your policy to a larger deductible that would make your monthly premium smaller. Or changing to a different Insurance. But don't cancel your policy until you are covered by a new one. If you do then you will fall under a pre-existing clause. If you have any type of chronic illness your new insurance company doesn't have to pay for any claims associated with that for a period of time that they decide. Ususally 6 months to 1 year.

Answer 3

Yes your doctor may refuse treatment. I work in a Hospital and deal with insurance. Your insurance is still good after 30 to 60 days depending on your benefits. Insurance states if you have copays, deductables and max oop once you met max out of pocket expence per calendar year you are covered 100%. Make sure you met deductable then if covers either 80/20 some include deductable with maximum out of pocket depends on insurance benefits so I suggest you call your insurance company before you cancel or ask for a self pay or private pay price It is problably cheaper to go that way on a case by case basis ask for private pay first then calculate if its cheaper to go w/ insurance, its up to you call your insurance you may already be covered 100%

Answer 4

Hi there, I would hope he/she wouldn't refuse you, as long as you agreed to pay them their fee.

However, you do have some excellent options! I noticed someone mentioned having a higher deductable to lower your monthly rate, which you can do and use a health benefits plan with it, which has a hospital advocay program through the Karis group (they negotiate with the hospitals & doctors to get the lowest rate and help you work out a payment plan in the event of something catastrophic). Plus, it's even better if you have an HSA (health savings/spending account). All 3 can work together beautifully.

Or, depending on your finances, you can have the health benefits only and still have access to hospital advocacy, x-rays, blood work, check-ups, dental, vision, etc. I have it and it is really affordable http://www.youdeservehealthcare.com

Answer 5

As far as regular stuff...perhaps. However, where I live they do not even take insurance stuff until after your ER visit at least. I asked about it and they said that way it doesn't provide a bias in treatment. So, some times yes....have you considered having at least some health insurance...like a $5000 deductable...that way your monthly payments are very low...and if you did get some horrible disease or in an accident you would only have a bill of $5,000 not hundreds of thousands of dollars if you have no coverage at all?

Answer 6

thank you for asking an sensible question. This an rather uncommon occasion right here. Your factors are nicely taken. besides the indisputable fact that, as long as we've such partisan leaders contained in the administration and legislature, valid wellness care is in no way going to take place. i'm afraid which you're an rather severe individual whom is unaware that the present management has no undertaking for wellness care. this entire initiative isn't something yet a means grab. to cite a nicely conventional western hemisphere chief, "in case you administration the wellness of the folk, then you definitely administration the folk." This chief replaced into Fidel Castro whom has been praised for his intelligence via a number of Obama's staunch supporters. representative Diane Watson of California and the movie maker Michael Moore. the two a form of persons have sang the praises of the Cuban wellness care equipment being loose to all Cuban voters. besides the indisputable fact that, neither have went to Cuba for any variety of care.

Answer 7

You will have to pay full price and that is very expensive, keep the insurance, you never know. Doctor's if they already have you as a patient can still refuse treatment. Check with your local laws.

Answer 8

I think it depends on the state or the county your in and what laws they have. There is a hospital I used to work for in my area and they used to take anyone insurence or not, they changed cause they wern't making money and now you have to show proof of insurence before they will treat you. I think if you pay our right before you get treated they won't mind.

Answer 9

Morally, doctors can not turn away a sick patient. But, for routine care, they can. As long as you pay for your visits (or make your payments to the practice if they're larger bills.) he can not refuse to treat you.

Answer 10

For routine issues, yes. For life-threatening issues, no. They only need to provide sufficient care to stabilize your condition.

Actually that's the rule for hospitals. Doctors aren't under any obligation to treat anyone but if they're affiliated with a hospital they're umbrellaed under the same rule.