colorado indigent care program & address choices

[bantamcattle]

<br>i'm starting down the road of many confusing things that i'm guessing all of us face somehow. i plan to full time vandwell in the spring and am looking to purchase a vehicle before hand. thus the question arises of where to register a new vehicle. i believe an easy route is to look for a state with out emissions and cheap taxes who will allow you to be a resident easily but i stumbled onto another issue:&nbsp; <br><br>here in colorado we have colorado indigent care program (CICP) which i used in the past for dentist work. i would pay 15$ for a dentist visit and 100-300$ for various procedures. this worked out pretty good. they may only do non-cosmetic work for very cheap then cosmetic work for a reduced price. it was very easy to sign up for. it was a simple interview where i said i was unemployed and what bills i had. at the time i survived on odd jobs so i said i was unemployed and they did not ask how i got money. i had to bring a copy of my rental lease and any other bills i had then stated any equity i had like bank accounts and vehicles. i did not have any money in my bank account and they did not check. i owned an inoperable car and this was a strike against my indigent status. they asked how much my groceries were per month and i said 100$, i had no idea and was pretty far off, again this lowered my indigent status. it is all a very basic equations of bills versus equity. they looked at no document other than my lease and my colorado id. i qualified for the 2nd lowest rung which meant 15$ clinic visits and some percent of medications. all of this was an impressive system. they also cover emergency room visits. here is a link to the website - http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/HCPF/HCPF/1214299805914<br><br>anyway, as i start to weigh the value of tax free states, i am reminded of the value of colorado indigent care program and wonder if other states have similar things. if its worth keeping my colorado status for the potential use of this program again (i am currently not enrolled. enrollment must be renewed each year and you can also sign up after an emergency room visit and if you qualify they will adjust your emergency bill).<br><br>right now, the value of cheap registering of a vehicle is tempting and i have a hard time weighing it against the value of the CICP if i should ever need it (i have no plans of carrying health insurance and am most only at risk to breaking a limb mountain biking or hiking). if other states have these programs, it would be worth knowing about. i'm starting my search now but thus far its overwhelming coinciding with the vehicle search.<br><br><br>

 

[akrvbob]

I'm a Nevada resident because it has no income tax, but the Colorado program is almost as good as having health insuarance. To be honest, I think it might be worth it to me to become a CO resident to take advantage of this program. You can qualify if you make less than 2 1/2 times the Federal Povery level. For me as a single man that is $27,225, I will make less than that this year so I would qualify. Find the Federal Poverty Level here: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11fedreg.shtml<br><br>If I were you, I'd stay a CO resident. Thanks for posting this, it is great info. Bob<br><br>

 

[akrvbob]

When they asked to see your lease, were they wanting to prove you were a resident or figuring out expenses? I wonder what would happen if you were living in your van so didn't have a lease? Bob<br>

 

[bantamcattle]

When they asked to see your lease, were they wanting to prove you were a resident or figuring out expenses? I wonder what would happen if you were living in your van so didn't have a lease? Bob<br>

<br><br>they wanted to see the lease to verify expenses (the lease i provided was off the internet and filled in with what was my rent price at the time since i did not have a lease with my landlord). i believe that a colorado id is what is used to verify residency. this is not a situation where they entered things into a computer and see what they got. they looked at the papers and id i brought then calculated the math. if you said you were living in your vehicle, it would make you sound homeless but the numbers would show you own a vehicle which bumps you up the chart and the lack of a rent bill would bump you up as well. but you could show them car insurance bills and fuel bills, car payment, phone, debt....any thing that you owe vs. anything you have is how it was looked at. they accepted everything i had and said.<br><br>it would be most wise to plan your signing up with a time that you want to see a doctor or dentist, as i believe the first year is very easy to qualify for but i have no idea what they ask for the second year as i did not renew.<br><br>wow, poverty level ($10,890) would be like winning the lottery! where do i sign up for that!<br>

 

[CP]

We have a program like that here in my county in California called CMSP.&nbsp; I signed up for it when I was unemployed last year.&nbsp; Based on income.&nbsp; You need to re-apply every 3 months.&nbsp; Free doctor visits, lab work, and prescriptions.&nbsp; Dental consists of extractions only.&nbsp; I found the clinics that had the contract with this county were easy to get into to see a doc.&nbsp; Several clinics around the area.&nbsp; <br>

 

[akrvbob]

No, not a vet, and too young for medicare. I'm over the poverty level also, but still too poor to be able to pay for health insurance. I think Obama-care is suppossed to help people like me, but I'll believe it when I see it. Bob<br>

 

[bantamcattle]

i talked to my friend and she said the times that she renewed her CICP card, the process was just as strait forward as the initial sign up. she also mentioned that having a Denver address was a greater benefit than a different city/county.<br><br>i've decided to maintain a Denver residency for this sole reason.<br><br>if you should ever find yourself in an emergency room know that there could be a retro active benefit to a care program in whatever place you are in. most of us can claim homelessness and possibly qualify for somekind of care program which inturn could have a retro active benefit like in Colorado. so if you get a giant emergency room bill somewhere, look into local care programs and see if you can sign up. they may then retroactively apply a discount to your emergency bill. its worth looking into because thousands can turn into a few hundred in some situations (like in Colorado).<br><br>

 

[Les H]

t only at risk to breaking a limb mountain biking or hiking).

I am in the same boat as Bob ( and , I suspect, many others) in that I am above poverty level, make too much for Medicaid, I am not a vet and can't afford health insurance.

I !!!PRAY!!! I don't get hurt or sick. A simple broken bone or prolonged sickness would put me under, ( not to mention , most people don't see an accident or illness coming)

and I still have a few years to go on my child support.( the main reason I cannot full time yet) when I lived in Ny, my wife's kids were covered by " child health plus",a state benefit. But Taxs were astronomical, along with vehicle and business insurance. There was also very strict vehicle inspections, and registration fees were high too.
Where I live in Alabama now, there is no inspections, insurance and registrations are much lower, and , after 3 months of jumping through hoops, the kids are again covered by a state healthcare.even though I work for a construction company, I am considered a " private subcontractor" which is a nice way of saying the construction co does not have to withold Taxs or provide workmans comp, health INS, overtime, or any other benefits beyond providing a job to go to.
Weigh your options carefully. It might be worth paying ( a) slightly higher fee(s) for your vehicle if your health INS is ( mostly) covered.
Les

 

[VanTrekker]

I have Iowa Care.&nbsp; It's our version of Medicaid.&nbsp; The nice thing is that it goes ONLY off the amount of income - not the number of cars or how much you have in the bank.&nbsp; If you are Bill Gates but have no job, you can get Iowa Care.&nbsp; That helps me because I inherited some money and Iowa Care does not expect you to use it if you are unemployed or underemployed.&nbsp; The same goes for food stamps - I get $200/month!&nbsp; Since most of what I spend money on is food, it's a cheap existence.<br><br>If you are a van dweller and can keep your income below a certain amount, Iowa Care is low cost or free.&nbsp; I get check ups every three moths (for diabetes) and am able to see an emergency room physician's assistant (P.A.) in case of sudden illness.&nbsp; By only working part of the year last year, my "income" was $6500.&nbsp; The medical care was free... No co-pay for office visits and medication costs $4 with a $20 out of pocket max if you have multiple prescriptions.&nbsp; It's a great program!&nbsp; <br><br>It sounds crazy but I don't want to go back to these piss-ant, high priced insurance policies (you find at crappy jobs) that have high premiums and are loaded with deductibles, co-pays, exclusions, etc.&nbsp; The state insurance works better for my needs.&nbsp; There is no way I could afford this degree of care on $8 / hour.&nbsp; Oh well... What do you do?&nbsp; You just stay part time!<br><br>

 

[Guest]

This is such an interesting read here guys. <br /><br />***Public Service&nbsp;Announcement***<br />Please do not take this as any kind of judgement on any particular person... this statement is directed at the general tone, not the content providers in any way. No Judgement, just love...&nbsp;<br />***Please return to your regularly scheduled program***<br /><br />I am very liberal, but it's kind of killing me to read some of this stuff to be honest. Someone IS paying the taxes to provide these services for the "needy". I guess it's no different than Rich people and corporations finding ways to game the system. It just sounds so wrong. This is just another reason for a national health care system IMHO.

 

[offroad]

rich people do game the healthcare system.&nbsp; if they can afford full coverage, they still get medicaid and medicare if they can.<br /><br />To fix the whole system is simple<br /><br />1)&nbsp; Social Security is welfare only!!&nbsp; sorry - no money there so it has to be welfare only.<br />2) Medicine is nationalized, including drugs.&nbsp; sorry - no money left for the middle income people or poor people to pay for it. &nbsp;<br /><br />will this happen?&nbsp; no.&nbsp; this is the USA&nbsp; you are allowed to go bankrupt if you have no health insurance.&nbsp; and to starve if you can find no job.

 

[offroad]

just a bump to this conversation again, for those picking states to live in.&nbsp;

 

[VanGirl]

Social Security is NOT welfare. It is a pay it forward system. I pay 200.00 every paycheck in SS. Just because the people in Washington steal the money from the fund does not mean it is welfare.<br /><br />VanGirl

 

[Seraphim]

"if they can afford full coverage, they still get medicaid and medicare if they can"<br /><br />The rich&nbsp;don't gt Medicaid - that's a need based program dependent on income and assets. Health insurance companies insist you sign up for medicare when eligible.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you paid medicare taxes as you worked and are eligible, medicare benefits are free. If you did not become eligble, you can get medicare by paying a monthly premium. <br /><br />VanGirl is correct - SS is not welfare. It is a public pension plan. If you pay into it for forty quaters, you are eligible for benfits based on the total amount you paid in. If the pension plan fails due to poor management or bad economy, and your average (non-participating) taxpayer has to kick in tax money, then it becomes a welfare program. It is not at that stage yet. It is currently self sufficient. Most pension plans are having difficulty due to the economy. In ours, we now have to contribute 12.5% of our income rather than 10%. We have also lost our COLAS for the first three years of retirement. We lost our free post retirement&nbsp;health insurance decades ago.<br /><br />VanGirl - no has stolen the money. Due to the surplus it was running the money was temporarily appropriated for other uses. The fund was just never reimbursed, to date lol

 

[josephusminimus]

&nbsp;

<br />i'm starting down the road of many confusing things that i'm guessing all of us face somehow. i plan to full time vandwell in the spring and am looking to purchase a vehicle before hand. thus the question arises of where to register a new vehicle. i believe an easy route is to look for a state with out emissions and cheap taxes who will allow you to be a resident easily but i stumbled onto another issue:&nbsp; <br /><br />here in colorado we have colorado indigent care program (CICP) which i used in the past for dentist work. i would pay 15$ for a dentist visit and 100-300$ for various procedures. this worked out pretty good. they may only do non-cosmetic work for very cheap then cosmetic work for a reduced price. it was very easy to sign up for. it was a simple interview where i said i was unemployed and what bills i had. at the time i survived on odd jobs so i said i was unemployed and they did not ask how i got money. i had to bring a copy of my rental lease and any other bills i had then stated any equity i had like bank accounts and vehicles. i did not have any money in my bank account and they did not check. i owned an inoperable car and this was a strike against my indigent status. they asked how much my groceries were per month and i said 100$, i had no idea and was pretty far off, again this lowered my indigent status. it is all a very basic equations of bills versus equity. they looked at no document other than my lease and my colorado id. i qualified for the 2nd lowest rung which meant 15$ clinic visits and some percent of medications. all of this was an impressive system. they also cover emergency room visits. here is a link to the website - http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/HCPF/HCPF/1214299805914<br /><br />anyway, as i start to weigh the value of tax free states, i am reminded of the value of colorado indigent care program and wonder if other states have similar things. if its worth keeping my colorado status for the potential use of this program again (i am currently not enrolled. enrollment must be renewed each year and you can also sign up after an emergency room visit and if you qualify they will adjust your emergency bill).<br /><br />right now, the value of cheap registering of a vehicle is tempting and i have a hard time weighing it against the value of the CICP if i should ever need it (i have no plans of carrying health insurance and am most only at risk to breaking a limb mountain biking or hiking). if other states have these programs, it would be worth knowing about. i'm starting my search now but thus far its overwhelming coinciding with the vehicle search.<br /><br /><br />

Interesting info. I'm obliged you posted it.&nbsp; I haven't been to a doctor in 20-25 years [nor to a dentist] and I suppose I'm eligible for Medicare, medicade, something, but I've never checked up on it.&nbsp; <br /><br />I was prescribed blood pressure meds and prilosec for a reflux problem back when I still went to doctors and I've been buying the meds from Mexico when I was near the border, or from India when further inside the US at prices cheap enough so's to keep the costs barely noticeable.&nbsp; I buy six months or a year supply at a time.<br /><br />Eyeglasses and eye tests in the border towns are dirt cheap.&nbsp; Also dental care, though I've never used it.<br /><br />I'd been considering proximity to the Mexican border a major piece of where I call myself a resident.&nbsp; I'd never realized the sort of services you've described here exist.<br /><br />Thank you.<br /><br /><br /><br />

 

[josephusminimus]

rich people do game the healthcare system.&nbsp; if they can afford full coverage, they still get medicaid and medicare if they can.<br /><br />To fix the whole system is simple<br /><br />1)&nbsp; Social Security is welfare only!!&nbsp; sorry - no money there so it has to be welfare only.<br />2) Medicine is nationalized, including drugs.&nbsp; sorry - no money left for the middle income people or poor people to pay for it. &nbsp;<br /><br />will this happen?&nbsp; no.&nbsp; this is the USA&nbsp; you are allowed to go bankrupt if you have no health insurance.&nbsp; and to starve if you can find no job.

<br /><br /><strong><em>Social Security is welfare only!!&nbsp;</em> </strong>Just a matter of assigning a label carrying baggage to weigh opinions in on one side or the other.&nbsp; Rhetorical manipulation to drive a wedge in expectations and intents.&nbsp; <br /><br />The 'you say tomato and I say tomahto' doesn't influence what SS retirement is as a reality, but it shaves it and sculps it in the minds of folks who are young and paying into it while hearing it won't be there when they are old enough to draw it.&nbsp; Naturally they resent it.<br /><br />Tough call, what ought to be done.&nbsp; Building up resentment toward the elderly in the minds of young folks is a disturbing rhetorical tactic, but not outside the boundaries of what's to be expected from politicos of either party.<br /><br />What the rich do, or don't do doesn't have much to do with it.&nbsp; It's our own meager survival and methods of living we each need to try to keep a handle on.&nbsp; The rich will gore their own oxen, same as they always have done.

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Indigent care in Colorado only exists for the totally....well, indigent.Even though I am technically below poverty level, and receive widow's disability benefits, I couldn't get into an indigent clinic if I broke in the door. No medical insurance either. However, the hospital here will provide medical assistence for low income if you qualify. I've had to use that three times. Once for high altitude sickness, and the other 2 times to be treated for the obscene high blood pressure medicine I'd been prescribed. Now, I do alternative care for myself, and refuse to take any prescription meds and I feel better than I have in ages. NO HBP either! But...thats just me.

---

Maybe it's just me, but I think the less we are dependant on the gov, the better off we'll all be.I speak from experience of having by necessity however, having been caught in that trap.If there is any way you can avoid that by being more self reliant, go for it. I do however believe there should be some viable, compassionate alternatives for those that just can't. Unfortunately, I was one of those, and am grateful that I've had help.

 

[Starlight]

The government subsidizes a whole lot of things, including medical and pharmaceutical research... which corporations make good money from. Why do people try to implant guilt in the minds of those who are suffering and fighting for their good health???

When it comes down to it, government has become an employment plan, and if we REALLY did away with the bureacracies, half the population would be out of work. For instance... the IRS... have you ever considered how many people make a living because of this one program??? Well... good money was spent to put doctors thru medical school... and these people need to get paid really well just to pay off their student loans. One hand feeds the other. We get healthy... they get paid. It's an ecosystem. Every medical office employs people who handle the insurance end... millions are employed... millions then can pay taxes.

I've fought to get better pay at my jobs and at one I asked for more money because of my expenses with my son... and was told --- "can't you get foodstamps?"

 

[jeanontheroad]

Bantamcattle, just because I am incredibly nosy and love to give unsolicited advice, I wonder if you have any training opportunities available in CO that may eventually give you a comfortable income well beyond the $10,980 poverty level that you would see as a windfall. It's got to be rough surviving on odd jobs keeping your fingers crossed. Being poor doesn't get any easier with age.

---

Starlight, you are the reason I want to see the minimum wage raised. No one who is working a fulltime job should have to turn to charity to live. One way or another, thru taxes or higher prices, the public pays. Personally, I think higher prices so that allow a worker to get higher wages and keep his/ her dignity is the better way to go. I am not a fan of subsidizing the profits of cheapazz companies by allowing them to foist their labor costs onto the public.

 

[Starlight]

I don't know the particular circumstances of the original poster of this thread but just for balance I wanted to say something.

This ain't the "good ole days" where a guy/gal can walk into an office, make polite business conversation and hope to get a job. FIRST your application goes thru the third degree. I was told once that a company's insurance dictates who they hire... what sort of a liability would such and such person be... has he/she ever been injured on the job before... has he/she ever sued anyone before... has he/she ever been laid off... etc etc etc... Competition is tough. All that... for a minimum wage job that doesn't pay enough to support anyone in a realistic way.

Maybe... maybe a person could make bills if all there was was rent, utilities and car insurance. BUT... throw in a car payment, car repairs and maintenance, clothes, shoes, household supplies... it ain't happening. So... after all that trouble... you still go bankrupt if you have health concerns... and lose your job if you're sick. Even a co-payment for assisted medical would bankrupt a person trying to support him/her self.

Like I said... it ain't the good ole days. They chew you up and spit you out and when they spit you out they have security escort you to the door like you were a criminal. They are afraid of working people... and maybe they should be. Even the nicest of employers is caught up in this jungle.