Question

Joe Withers, a 38 year old male, is just about to complete his shift after working a busy shift as a restaurant manager in one of the city' busiest restaurants. As he completing his paperwork, he feels a a pounding headache coming on and feels nauseous. Completed with his duties, he clocks out and gets in his car to drive home. He feels sweaty and weak and can't concentrate enough to start the car. A coworker, on his way out sees Joe sitting in his car and notices he is not well. He calls 9-1-1 and within 25 minutes, Joe is sitting in the hospital emergency department where he is hooked up to monitors. The doctor comes in and informs Joe that his blood pressure was 210/135 and asks if he takes an medicine for high blood pressure. Joe hasn't been to a doctor in more than 12 years due to not having insurance, much less.be taking medication other than what he can find over the counter. Over the course of 4 hours, Joe's blood pressure is stabilized and the doctor comes back in to discharge Joe home. He prescribes a small amount of a medication to bring down blood pressure and recomme ds Joe follows up with one of the hospital healthcare providers to establish as a patient for the management of his blood pressure. Joe is reluctant but does as he is told. He goes the next day to the new doctor's office. The doctor orders a battery of blood work and an EKG to check for further problems and invites joe back 1 week later for a follow up visit. During the follow up visit, Joe's primary care provider informs him that he not only has hypertension that will require 2 medications to treat, but that he is an uncontrolled diabetic and needs to be started on insulin. Also, Joe's cholesterol is so high that if it's not treated with medication, it could lead to a heart attack, stroke, or death

Answer 1

Some of the ways to handle Joe's financial status are

• Getting help of Charity Care being referred through the hospital
• Looking out for the Medicaid services available locally and which fits him best
• Trying to get enrolled in the Affordable Care Act
• Marketplace is the best way to find out a solution
• Online medication services can be used to meet the monthly bill for medication purchases which are low.
• The Hill Burton program firs in for low income people
• Social security benefits are the better way to find out locally and meet the healthcare requirements

The better way to protect his job is by providing a medical certificate and reassuring the management that any future absenteeism will be avoided and the performance will be improved.

The primary care provider can support by most appropriate treatment and suggests ways to handle his bill effectively by making sure of Marketplace.

Some of the things which can be done by Joe without spending a dime are

• Regular daily exercise
• Dietary modifications like low fat ,low salt, low carbs ,high fiber diet or a Meditarean diet
• Avoid tinned ,packaged ,salted ,fast and unhealthy foods
• Medication adherence
• Regular follow up
• Avoiding alcohol, smoking, tobacco,stress
• Practice relaxation therapy or technique like massage,meditation, yoga ,etc.., atkeast once a week.