For a while just after my wife and I graduated from graduate school we went without health insurance. We figured that it would be no problem. We are young, healthy, she just graduated with a nursing degree and I with a doctor of chiropractic degree. If there was any small problem we could handle it and get by. If there was a big problem, well, we could have been in trouble.
With no health insurance we became very cautious people. On our long hikes and backpacking trips we took care to plan, not hike to close to steep edges, keep a close eye out for large predators, and all of the usual precautions where checked and double checked. My wife would remind me over and over on a trip or when the little boy in me got the best of my curiosity “we don’t have health insurance” she would say.
During this time we started to network and manage our own healthcare. We took care to eat healthfully, took regular large amounts of Vitamin C, and exercised just to name a few. Another thing we did was make a list of our contacts. When in need, it is very important to know people. The relationships you build are very important in a survival setting and knowing a few healthcare providers of some kind is a great way to stay alive. My wife was, by this time, a nurse (who worked getting my practice started and turned down a hospital job to do so), so she had some great knowledge already. My roommate from undergrad is an emergency room doctor in another state, my sister married a nurse who was also the son of a dentist (the dentist also lives in our hometown). My other sister married the son of a family practice doctor and lives a couple of hours away from us. On top of that my cousin, in the town where we live, is a physician’s assistant who works at the “welfare” clinic.
Now, I understand that this is an abnormally large amount of connections with healthcare providers but it makes my point. It is important to make a list of who you know and get their phone number. It isn’t that hard to call a doctor at home and say “hi this is so-and-so, my best friend so-and-so is married to your nephew. I am having a real hard time with Problem-X and was wondering what I need to do? I don’t have health insurance and am in a real bind.” This privilege should never be abused or your best friend may get a call from the doctor and get chewed out for giving you his phone number. However, many doctors got into their profession to help people. I have gotten calls in the evenings many times for someone needing to get back to work the next day and their back or neck wont let them do so. I am more than happy to help if I can. Its why I got into this business.
The next list that you need to make is one of the local clinics and doctors that accept cash payment or have a discount for “cash at time of service”. This discount can reach an excess of 50% off the clinic’s pay scale because they get cash now and don’t have to bill or chase down payments. Even now some providers will accept bartering/goods as payment. I do this in my chiropractic clinic and know others in the area, in other professions, that do the same. I once took a 4-wheel drive on one occasion and an AR-15 on another occasion for patients who needed lots of work and didn’t have the cash to pay for it. There are more of these bartering physicians than you think and knowing who and where they are can really be a big help (this is a more common practice in very small towns and is rare or non-existent in the cities).
The last resort for a major problem is the emergency room. I am very much against using the ER as a clinic. It is for emergencies and should be saved for emergencies. There are always other options for non-emergent care and the ERs are very overcrowded with people trying to just get free healthcare and it is bankrupting the hospitals. By law the ER has to see you. They don’t have to treat you but they do have to see you. There is a loophole to this and that is if you have pain that rates an 8/10 or higher on the mVas pain scale. This scale is used by asking the question “Can you rate your pain from 0-10, zero being no pain at all and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine?” If your pain is reported as 8/10 or higher then they will not only have to see you but treat you as well, insurance or not. This is loophole that they try and keep under wraps. Now ER doctors are becoming very wary of this scale because realistically when a person is at 8/10 they should be mostly incapacitated and can’t function normally. Doctors know when a condition is causing a person to be in that much pain and they can, for the most part, tell when a person is faking. For instance you are on your phone texting and they ask about pain and you say 11/10. If insurance reform happens and it is instituted by private industry and not the government then this scale will probably go away as it is becoming less and less accurate as people learn about these loopholes. Many hospitals are fighting very hard to get reform in these areas thus it is critical that you would only use this loophole in a life or death situation.
A great way to make new contacts for your list is to meet healthcare workers at there level. There are many ways to meet people working in the healthcare industry. It is easier in a small town. I know many dentists and doctors who are gun enthusiasts and frequent the local gun clubs, ranges, and shops. They shoot leagues and attend other events. They often volunteer with search and rescue units in mountainous regions as well as local charities that provide for the underprivileged. Another great way to meet these professionals is to join the local volunteer ambulance or fire service. This is also a great way to trade some amazing training for volunteer hours with those departments. Please understand I am not saying to go befriend these people just to get “free” healthcare but it is very important to meet and know all of the “brain” resources in your community, especially if there is some form of disaster. For the most part medical people are trustworthy as well as have a certain level of self-reliance themselves, and if they live in a small mountain community they are there because they enjoy mountain activities and thus enjoy befriending like minded individuals.
During our stint with no healthcare my wife had no problems but I had two. Both minor, but they would have been a real pain without some contacts. The first was pink-eye. This is a really miserable condition that takes a few eye drops to clear up. However, the eye drops are a prescription so I needed a doctor who could call in one for me. One phone call later and I was at the pharmacy paying the $10 to fix my situation. On another occasion after a long walk my toe started to hurt and I somehow got the toenail infected. It swelled up and was really painful. I called my cousin and went to see her at her house. She pulled out a very well stocked first aid kit, lanced my toe, drained it, and called in a basic antibiotic regimen through the clinic. I went to the pharmacy and picked up my $4 worth of pills. A couple days later I was good as new. Now this was a very minor infection but without the right care it could have become a serious one.
Proper planning and contacts are the best insurance anyone could have. It is so important to get involved in the community and get to know the locals. After having practiced in our small town I have made many contacts with, not just the local doctors, but also law enforcement, the local gun shop owners, fire departments, ambulance crew members, the search and rescue crew, and many other survival specific skilled individuals. Getting to know the locals could save your life. People also like to take care of their own so it is really a privilege to become a local in a place worth bugging out to.
When I read survival literature I look back on this time we didn’t have health coverage and can’t help but think how having some finely tuned knowledge of outdoor survival and preparedness is like insurance. There is no better life saving insurance than knowing how to handle situations in the wild, having some food, silver, and ammo stocked up, and being aware of our surroundings and the current state of the world (it may soon “end as we know it”). A little while back, when my new practice started taking off, we did a couple things. First we stocked up on food, silver and ammo. Then we got health insurance. I can tell you how nice it felt to finally know we where covered if something bad happened, and I’m not just talking about a fall or broken bone. We finally had a safety net if TSHTF.
Keep your powder and contact list dry and live well.