Insurance, Mainecare and other options

[davidthegnome]

I find myself in the unpleasant situation of needing treatment, but having no way to pay for it. As a Dishwasher for a Restaurant in a small town, my Boss gives me two nights a week because it's what he can afford. Now he pays what I think is a fair wage for the area, eight dollars an hour. It's significantly less time than most part time jobs (I think). On a good weekend, I get perhaps as many as ten hours (this rarely happens, it's usually closer to 6-8) so my check usually ends up being somewhere between 40 and 65 dollars. I have to drive about twenty seven miles to get to work, so the gas prices are tough on me - my parents let me drive their car on the weekends to get there.

I have a number of cavities I've had for years, but no way to pay a dentist. I have PTSD and won't bother you with the details of what I experience with that - but a Psychiatrist costs 300 dollars an hour in the nearest town. Payment is expected at time of service, in full - that's if you're fortunate enough to get in to see one. Without insurance, there is no possible way I can afford to pay for treatment.

So a couple of times I've swallowed my pride and gone to the semi-local DHS office to see if there was any help available. I applied for Mainecare a few different times but was told that while I was disabled to an extent, I was not too disabled to work and therefor did not qualify. The issue is that the last full time job I had, back in the summer, didn't offer health coverage of any sort. So even if I do get lucky and land another full time job, most of those I've seen up here (and they are few) do not offer coverage.

So I'm wondering if there are other options, beyond waiting for my teeth to fall out or dealing with my, at times, overwhelming psychological issues alone. The person I spoke with at DHS didn't think there was anything I could qualify for... will that change in 2014 when the new health insurance reform comes into effect? Provided that the republicans don't obliterate it first, I mean. There's no chance I can save up enough for treatment on my own. My medical debts of the last few years are already up to nearly ten thousand dollars.

Does anyone have suggestions? I live in Aroostook County, I work in Caribou.