In our practice we have to take into consideration the patient’s insurance status. Patients lacking health insurance are less likely to get the prescription medications, less likely to schedule future follow up appointments, and less likely to adhere to treatment plans. Well, how could they? Patients who do not have health insurance probably don’t make enough money to get health insurance and thus the money they gain goes to the basic requirements of living; thus paying healthcare professionals, paying medical bills and buying prescription medications is beyond their ability. Also because they do not have health insurance, prices for the services they require would be higher than the average because insurance agencies usually have contracts with hospitals and clinics that set limits on the fees for clinical services, hence the uninsured face higher costs. So what can we do? We have to take into consideration the fact that these patients have limited resources, and thus allocate their ability to the most important test/medication/screening, and help them understand the importance of disease prevention.
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