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When you need a doctor and can’t pay
For anyone in the United States who is sick, hurt or out of medicine, with no insurance or no money for the visit, and for the people helping them. Where to go, the words to say, how to get covered, and what to do about a bill you can’t pay. Needing care you can’t afford is not a failure.
Right now
- Could it be an emergency? Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room. The emergency room has to check you even if you have no insurance and no money.
- Swallowed or breathed in something harmful? Poison Help, 1-800-222-1222. Free and confidential, any hour.
- Too much to bear? Call or text 988, any hour.
- Not an emergency? Find a health center near you. What you pay depends on your income.
More help
- Have a visit coming up? Get ready for your appointment: one sheet with what to say and what to ask.
- Hard to speak in the room? Speak for me shows your words on the screen.
- Someone may have overdosed? What to do right now.
- Not enough to eat, or nowhere to stay? When you need food and When you need a place to stay.
- Someone wants money up front to erase a medical bill or sign you up for coverage? Is this a scam?
- All our free tools and Get help now.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from the government’s own pages (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HealthCare.gov, USAGov, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Institutes of Health, SAMHSA and VA), and the phone numbers and websites were checked on each service’s own site, in September 2026. Hours and rules change, so check with the service. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a government agency, a clinic or an insurer and can’t give out care, money or advice about your health. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].