Topic: How does someone with no income show proof of income?

[W7RE]

TL,DR: I wanted to rant.



My medicine for my asthma is $300 a month ($250 for the preventative inhaler, $50 for the emergency inhaler)
I have no job, and no insurance

I found a place that will give me a year of the preventative meds, but I have to send in a prescription and proof of income
I have no income, how do I prove that? When I tell them I'm living with someone, they want to add their income, then I seem less broke and don't qualify. I get no money from the people I live with though.
If I go see a doctor, it's going to cost me $150 because I'm a new patient. I don't have that.
I could go to the free clinic in town, but they won't let me see a doctor without proof of income.

I live off food stamps. I don't even remember how I convinced them I have zero income. Maybe I can get the social worker there to write a letter attesting that I have no income.

[Cobra951]

Welcome to the club.  I live with family, and have no job.  Naturally, I have no insurance.  I can't afford to get it for myself, and neither can anyone in my family (given how stupidly prohibitive individual health insurance is).  If I apply for medicaid (no-cost healthcare coverage) I have to provide the household income.  That would count as my income, which is of course complete bullshit, but is the determining--and disqualifying--number nevertheless.  In order to qualify, I would have to go live in a cardboard box somewhere.  Then I'd have the same problem you do.  My last official income statement is several years old, meaningless now.  All I can provide is my word that I don't have income.  

If you find a good official answer to your question, please post it here.  I want to know it too.

[gpw11]

It probably totally depends on the institution/department you deal with and in what province/state, but you may be able to get away by providing a tax return, unemployment insurance paperwork, whatever the fuck else you may have showing a total lack of income. Of course, it's totally flawed and retarded. A signed affidavit works here for proof of zero income in certain situations,  but I don't know who the hell you'd get to sign it.

Fuck the system yo. Maybe just pretend you're homeless.  Seriously.

[ren]

America

[gpw11]

America

To be fair, you'd probably have the same problem with one of the Provincial pharmacare programs. For my old job I had to register with Pharmacare in order to be eligable for extended benefits, because Blue Cross or whoever doesn't want to pay out the ass for something you may already be covered under a government program just because you didn't want to fill out some paperwork.  I had to provide a proof of income for that, just as you would if you were applying because you NEEDED assistance due to a lack of income or a need for expensive prescription bills.  Obviously, in my case it was just a matter of providing my last two tax returns, but I'm sure it'd be just as much of a headache here if you were unemployed and not on a social assistance list somewhere.

[W7RE]

The problem with using a tax return is that I didn't file last year. Actually I haven't filed in years. I haven't made enough money to require it. I didn't get my tax information from my place of employment because I didn't have a place of employment.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I guess that's the dilemma. I'd see if you could get whoever it is that provides the foodstamps to provide some sort of evidence that you've proved to them that you have zero income.  I'm sure it's something they deal with pretty often.


Also, how the hell do food stamps work?  Are they basically coupons for monetary amounts you can spend on whatever in the grocery store (obviously within limits) or is there like a category rationing system in place? Could you blow your wad on cheese and infused olive oil if you were so inclined?   Canada doesn't roll with food stamps for some strange reason.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Also, how the hell do food stamps work?  Are they basically coupons for monetary amounts you can spend on whatever in the grocery store (obviously within limits) or is there like a category rationing system in place? Could you blow your wad on cheese and infused olive oil if you were so inclined?   Canada doesn't roll with food stamps for some strange reason.

Food stamps (at least here in Texas) is on a card that has a set amount loaded on it.  You use it just like a credit/debit card at the register.  I think most states don't use the paper food stamps anymore because people were trading them for drugs.  To answer your second question, yes you could blow the food stamps on something like the cheese you mentioned but if you use them all up on excessive purchases like that before you get your card reloaded next month you would be boned.

[W7RE]

Yea you can spend the money however you want, but only on groceries. Ready to eat food doesn't count, and it's setup in their system that way. If you get something that doesn't qualify, it will charge what it can to the food stamps card, then prompt you to pay for the rest.

[Cobra951]

To be fair, you'd probably have the same problem with one of the Provincial pharmacare programs. For my old job I had to register with Pharmacare in order to be eligable for extended benefits, because Blue Cross or whoever doesn't want to pay out the ass for something you may already be covered under a government program just because you didn't want to fill out some paperwork.  I had to provide a proof of income for that, just as you would if you were applying because you NEEDED assistance due to a lack of income or a need for expensive prescription bills.  Obviously, in my case it was just a matter of providing my last two tax returns, but I'm sure it'd be just as much of a headache here if you were unemployed and not on a social assistance list somewhere.

I thought Canada had a civilized healthcare system (unlike the USA).  You still need to deal with fuckers like Blue Cross?

[gpw11]

I thought Canada had a civilized healthcare system (unlike the USA).  You still need to deal with fuckers like Blue Cross?

You certainly don't HAVE to deal with Blue Cross or any other provider, it's all part of extended medical plans (usually provided through employers) which cover expenses above and beyond what the government healthcare covers.

For instance, currently I don't have any additional coverage through my employer or school and can still walk into a hospital or clinic and receive all my treatment for essentially free (barring some exceptions, like small fees for crutches, slings, fiberglass instead of plaster casts or whatever). If, however, I need to get a course of anti-biotics or prescription pain killers for the next few weeks, I'm paying at the pharmacy for that.

Basically, any emergency (use the term lightly) care you may need is pretty much completely covered. I used to hate going to the clinic or doctor, and then I realized I'm paying for the shit anyways.  If there's no line I'll walk in there and tell them I have had something in my eye for the last couple days and just want to make sure it's not metallic or get them to check out a strange spot on my dick and then not give a shit when they decide to freeze that mofo, because hey...it's free.   Depending on where you live, you may or may not have to pay a monthly premium to the government for coverage.  In BC I pay roughly $60 a month. They also suck balls at billing you correctly/on time and totally fuck up all the time, but they also can't deny you coverage based on the fact that you owe them money. Which is good because I owe roughly $300 right now because I moved, they stopped automatically withdrawing, and I had no idea because I wasn't getting invoices.

Most people with decent jobs (depending on your industry) will have extended coverage.  This will cover preventative visits (such as a yearly physical...which is something like $100 otherwise), vision, dental, prescription costs, and whatever else. The extended coverage I had also covered travel insurance and extended leave...so that should I be injured to the point where I can't work for 6 months or so, they'll cover something like 60% of my income.  This usually varies in cost depending on how much your employer is willing to cover, how much you make, and what your company premiums are.  It's nice, but by no means necessary at all.

Interestingly, with dental not being covered people use all kinds of workarounds.  Wisdom teeth bothering you? Don't go to the dentist - go to the ER...you might save yourself a grand (note, they won't actually pull your teeth, they'll just refer you).  Same goes for cosmetic shit like (some) skin issues and such. Don't just call a dermatologist up and make an appointment, go to your doctor or a clinic and get a referral.  BANG!  You're probably going to get your shit for free.

Also, from my experience with dealing with Pacific Blue Cross and Blue Shield, they're actually super easy going for us. I suppose because the extended medical market in Canada is fairly competitive (I guess?) and 99.9% of people with coverage are covered under giant group packages. If they're being a bitch about their claims most package managers would probably just switch providers. I guess it's because it's a luxury up here rather than a necessity and they never really have you by the balls at all.

[W7RE]

What really sucks about not having medical coverage, is that I really only need it for my asthma. Let's see, the times that I've been to the hospital that were not related to asthma:

-stepped on a rusty nail in middle school, and got a tetanus shot
-needed a physical before I could go to boyscout summer camp
-cut my finger open in high school and got 6 stitches


That's it. 3 times that I can think of in 34 years. Because of my asthma though, I have to go see the doctor every 6 months for prescriptions, and those cost $300 a month. My current doctor has been giving me prescriptions every 6 months if I just call the clinic, because he knows I don't have a job. This time though, it's been a couple years and he won't do it unless I see him.

[gpw11]

What really sucks about not having medical coverage, is that I really only need it for my asthma. Let's see, the times that I've been to the hospital that were not related to asthma:

-stepped on a rusty nail in middle school, and got a tetanus shot
-needed a physical before I could go to boyscout summer camp
-cut my finger open in high school and got 6 stitches


That's it. 3 times that I can think of in 34 years. Because of my asthma though, I have to go see the doctor every 6 months for prescriptions, and those cost $300 a month. My current doctor has been giving me prescriptions every 6 months if I just call the clinic, because he knows I don't have a job. This time though, it's been a couple years and he won't do it unless I see him.

I wonder why, I mean it's not like one of those prescriptions you could really abuse, right?  In either case, you're supposed to get a doctor to refill your regular prescriptions every once in a while here as well. I guess just a general safety precaution.


But yeah, talking to your social worker or whoever is probably the best way to go.  It's partially their job to know how this stuff works.

[Raisa]

People move to Hawaii because of health insurance.

[Cobra951]

People move to Hawaii because of health insurance.

Oh?  Please enlighten me.

[Cools!]

Interestingly, with dental not being covered people use all kinds of workarounds.  Wisdom teeth bothering you? Don't go to the dentist - go to the ER...you might save yourself a grand (note, they won't actually pull your teeth, they'll just refer you).  Same goes for cosmetic shit like (some) skin issues and such. Don't just call a dermatologist up and make an appointment, go to your doctor or a clinic and get a referral.  BANG!  You're probably going to get your shit for free.

I don't know how it is in the rest of Ontario but here in the GTA most of the specialists (not private clinics) won't even see you without a referral. This can be a problem at times because it can delay diagnosis and treatment by a lot. You have to go through clueless general practitioners which might take a week or more to book, "convince" them that you want a 2nd opinion with an actual specialist, get the referral, then wait even longer to get the actual appointment.

My dad had an ear problem last year and I think in total he had to run around for more than 2 months between various places before finally getting the proper treatment. When he had his hernia it took over a year to diagnose even though it's extremely common at his age (and was only diagnosed at a private clinic) and it would've taken over a year to get the actual surgery (he decided to get it done at the private place because it was still covered). My mom had it even worse a few years ago: she had on and off nose pain and it took probably over 4 years to diagnose and treat, including over a year of waiting for a 30 minute surgery.

Now, all these cases were indeed "minor", but I've heard plenty similar stories from people with much serious conditions. Like having to wait over a year to get a CT scan which is why a lot of people just drive to Buffalo to get it done.