Unfortunately affordable health insurance is not realistically obtainable for every person in the United States, at least not yet. If you work a minimum wage job then you may realistically find that you can not afford a private pay insurance plan for your family. If wages or health is an issue however than you should be caught in the safety net by one or more of the government implemented health care programs. Other options to help you take care of your health on a minimal budget are:

1. CHECK OUT LEARNING FACITILITES IN YOUR AREA – You may not be aware of this but medical schools and dental schools will usually offer a clinic type setting for their students to learn. This is a great opportunity to help out a student and get a really low rate on the health care you need. Although, this is not a total fix, it is probably a way to get in routine visits and such for a very low fee.
2. HEALTH DISCOUNT CARD – There days there are many people struggling to get the care they need and out of this need has come the un-insurance card. Basically you pay for this discount card which is accepted by different doctors in the area. They offer you special discounts and limit their fees to make their services more affordable to card holders.
3. FREE CLINICS – Ask around about free clinics or sliding scale doctors. They may be few and far between, but there are some medical professionals who won’t turn you away in your time of need.
4. FIND A HOSPITAL THAT YOU CAN GO TO – This is a bigger issue than you may think. If you are not carrying health insurance, then there may be only a select few hospitals in the area that will see you for anything other than a life threatening injury. Don’t wait until you are in a crisis. Call the local emergency rooms and just ask them outright if they will treat you without insurance. If they don’t talk about referring you to another hospital, then they will probably be willing to treat you.
5. AWAITING ELIGIBILITY – Sometimes it will take a little time to get approved for a government funded insurance program, but during the time when you are waiting a health issue may arise. Realize that you can contact the agency where your application is pending and get it pushed through as an emergency case. In many cases you can also get the insurance coverage back dated to the day when you submitted your application and you can get your previous medical expenses covered as well.

Hopefully there will come a time when no one in the United States needs to worry about their children being kept warm and safe, and hopefully one day everyone will have equal access to the medical care and treatments they need. Until then however, we will have to look out for one another and try to help everyone find a means of coping with the National Health Care Crisis.