Also, if you need a name brand drug and you can’t afford it, look into discount plans at the pharmacy… or even from the manufacturer!

Advair, for instance, can cost $150-200 per pack… but if you contact the manufacturer (GlaxoSmithKline, http://www.gsk.com) they might be able to send you either free packs or discount coupons.

Dan, the UW’s health insurance plan would work, but since I will only be here for another two quarters, it just doesn’t seem worth it to me to put it that time and effort of getting accepted. Luckily, I knew when my insurance was going to run out and thus I filled up on everything, including annual visits so I will be covered for a year on the usual stuff.

Julie, thanks for the suggestion of Planned Parenthood. It wasn’t until your suggestion and another friend’s of mine suggestion that I realized it was not only for teenage mothers, lol. I am definitely going to go there when I run out.

Morgan, thanks for doing all of that research for me. I truly appreciate it. I was unaware that there were offers like that to at least help the after college kids get some coverage. I will look into all of this.

The other concern that I have is for John. He has a lot of medical problems and has not been seen for them since he can’t afford it. Hopefully, when I look at this stuff, I can find a suitable solution for him as well, or at least something to tide him over until we can afford better.

For birth control, I recommend Planned Parenthood, too.

Also, many adults qualify for free/cheap health insurance through the county health office of whatever county they reside in. Criteria and coverages differ from county to county, but a quick googling tells me that Seattle has something called the Basic Health Plan, which is accepting enrollments right now:

http://www.basichealth.hca.wa.gov/cost/income.shtml

Apparently you qualify if your gross income is $1700 or less per month, but there is a premium (looks like about $100 at the highest eligible income level and it scales down from there).

If you don’t qualify, look into “catastrophic” insurance. Here’s why: if you get sick while uninsured, and then go on insurance, your illness will most likely be considered a pre-existing condition and you will more than likely get fucked (on premiums or on coverage or both). But if you have ANY health insurance prior to getting sick, even low-premium high-deductible shitty insurance, it is much easier to transition onto better insurance later on. Paying $50-100 a month now can make sure you don’t get screwed for thousands of dollars later.

Don’t write off private insurance without getting some quotes. At least see if you can get ballpark premium quotes from the usual suspects: Blue Cross Blue Shield, United, Aetna, Kaiser, etc.

Google also tells me that the Seattle Downtown Public Health Center offers reduced-fee basic dental and medical care to low-income Seattle residents:

http://www.metrokc.gov/health/locations/downtown.htm

Anyway, health care in the US is the political issue I’m most passionate about right now… don’t get me started on it, once I get going on the subject I take no responsibility for anything that may occur. There might be screaming and cursing and possibly splattering of bodily fluids or gross property damage involved.

Fortunately nothing did…

But apparently one of my coworkers told me that Planned Parenthood does birth control pills at a reduced rate for a year…. That would get you going for a while.