Medical Care for Those Who Cannot Afford to Pay

Unlike much of Europe and Canada, the United States does not offer a single-payer health care system that covers all its citizens. Medical care options for low-income individuals in the United States are limited. However, poor people who get sick or suffer injuries do have a few options for health care, some of which are provided by the government, others by private organizations.

Medicaid

• Medicaid provides medical care resources for low-income individuals. Each state administers Medicaid according to its own rules, along with eligibility rules imposed by the federal government. Medicaid does not provide cash benefits for beneficiaries. Instead, the program makes payment to physicians and medical care facilities that provide care to indigent patients. Only United States citizens and legal immigrants are eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. Children who are citizens or legal immigrants may qualify for Medicaid benefits, even if their parents are ineligible. A child who lives in your household may also be eligible for Medicaid, because benefits are based on his own income, not yours, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

SSDI and Medicare

• Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, provides direct cash payments to individuals under age 65 who have made sufficient contributions during their working lives to qualify for Social Security, and who are able to demonstrate that their disability or illness makes it impossible for them to continue to work. Conventional Medicare provides medical benefits for retired individuals over age 65 who have made sufficient contributions during their working lives to qualify for the program. SSDI recipients have also been eligible to receive Medicare benefits to cover their medical care since 1972.

Nonprofit Health Care Agencies

• Many hospitals operate as nonprofit organizations and receive funds from the federal government under the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, according to the Missouri Foundation for Health. In exchange, hospitals must offer "charity care," or treatment at little or no cost, for poor patients who do not have health insurance. In addition, medical clinics and health care organizations nationwide provide medical care for very low or no cost for people who do not have insurance, or who cannot afford to pay for medical care out-of-pocket. You may need to undergo a screening process to determine whether you qualify for benefits or to determine what price you pay for benefits. Qualification for benefits may be determined by your age, income, whether you have dependents living in your household or other factors.

Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act

• For many poor people, the ER serves as a primary medical care provider. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTLA, was included as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, or COBRA. EMTLA prohibits hospitals that have room for new patients from turning anyone away from the emergency room. The law was revised to include the so-called 250-Yard Rule that orders hospitals to treat patients located immediately adjacent to their facilities after Christoper Sercye died in 1998 from gunshot wounds when Ravenswood Hospital refused to send medical workers out to retrieve him when his friends brought him to an alley near the hospital, according to EMTLA.com.