One in three Americans can't get access to high quality health care, despite the Affordable Care Act of 15 years ago, and the inability to get good health care increases depending on income. But there are ways to work with the medical system to get help.
The problems in most cases, though, happen because most people aren't familiar with how the US medical systems work, according to Dr. Bill Hennessey of CareGuard in Dallas.
For instance, he says, "at more than 5,000 hospitals in the United States and about 250 in the state of Texas, you're entitled to free care.
"A hundred million people qualify for free and discounted care. If you're making about $53,000 a year for a family of three or less or $64,000 or less per year for a family of four or fewer, you're entitled to free or discounted healthcare."
It's not something most people are aware of, Dr. Hennessey says, and "while the Affordable Care Act has been mostly unaffordable," there is one wonderful provision, and that's "IRS 501-R," which means all the non-profit hospitals in the county -- which is every brand name you know of -- has to provide some free care for those earning below a certain amount of money."
But hospitals won't tell you unless you ask, he adds.
"You need to speak to the financial counselor at the hospital. They're not telling you this, but it's federal law."
Recent studies show that an estimated 91 million people say they can't afford the needed access to good healthcare, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index.
Results of the index indicate about 64% of people earning less than $24,000 a year said they can’t afford health care. That's an 11-point increase over just the past two years.
And while fresh approaches and new rules and regulations need to be applied to the health care industries, Dr. Hennessey says consumers need to take fresh approaches too, such as when paying bills.
Before medical care, he says, you should always ask what the price will be, ask for the cash price first, and an insurance price second if you have insurance and here's why..."
"..The hospital staff has been taught that if you said you had a health insurance policy, they'll say, 'Well, we have to bill your insurance because you told us that,' but that's a lie." Compare what they tell you the procedure or medication will cost if you pay for it yourself ("out of pocket") or if you go through your insurance because sometimes using insurance will actually be higher in cost.
"You ask for the cash price first, the insurance price second," and tell those at the hospital, "I'm going to decide, I'm the customer. I'm going to decide which price is better and which one I'm going to pay."
"In other words, we don't have to use insurance," Dr. Hennessey says. We still have that choice.