Introduction
One of the worst things in life is hearing that you need surgery. It means that you will be out of work, depending on the type of surgery that you need and will cause you to lose money. Depending on whom the main bread winner of the family is, this can cause an even bigger financial burden. You may think that because you have no health insurance that you might not be able to get the surgery that you need. You can get free surgery if you are without any kind of state assistance and do not have insurance. It has to be for surgery that is deemed as needed and not for cosmetic purposes.
History
If you need free surgery and are without insurance, the first thing that you should do is see about your counties welfare department. Medicaid is a program for low income families to help them get the medical services that they need. You can even qualify for Medicaid if you work but are still considered low income. Some of the standard procedures to see if you qualify will include how much money you make compared to your family size and what your other monthly bills are for things that you need. This is one way that poor families can get help with getting free surgery. Medicaid was started in 1965 and added to the Social Security Act. Each county manages it’s own Medicaid program and establishes the state-run programs.
Features
If you do not qualify for Medicaid, you may qualify for programs that are run through the hospitals. You would need to go talk to the patient advocate at the hospital and show that there is a need for surgery to be done and that you are under the care of a doctor. It helps if you can go to the same hospital that the doctor will be doing the operation at. Getting free surgery should not be something that one takes lightly and if you do not seek help, no one else will extend the olive branch to you. There are also some places that have a sliding scale for different surgeries. If you have a clinic in your area that has a sliding scale, you might check there. If you cannot get free surgery, you may be able to get it cheaper or even be able to make payments on it.
Tips and comments
Find out from your doctor if you are in need of the surgery. Of course if it is life saving surgery, and you do not have insurance then the hospital can not turn you away. This is one way that you could end up with free surgery but you will still get the bills. If you do end up being billed, go to the Human Resource department at the hospital and see if they have a program that can help you pay for a portion of the bill. They may even help you pay for the whole bill or get you temporary Medicaid to pay that hospital bill.
