Dan's Medical Expenses

On January 30, 2018, Dan was working on building a goat barn when he had an unfortunate accident with his table saw. Two fingers on his left hand were badly damaged. The emergency room treated him for shock, a dislocated knuckle, gave him a tetnus shot, and bandaged the fingers. There was also bone loss and extensive soft tissue damage, but the ER doctor said they were too busy for the time it would take to fix it, and arranged for Dan to meet a hand specialist at the ER of another hospital. The specialist never showed up, so a resident sewed the muscle and flesh back around the bone.

At a follow-up with a family physician Dan learned that the saw had completely destroyed the one knuckle on his middle finger. A hand surgeon gave him the options of allowing the finger to heal as is or amputation.

Dan and his wife are homesteaders who live a financially meager lifestyle. Much of their work is  maintaining their homestead, and while Dan's part-time job pays ordinary bills, it isn't enough to afford health insurance. 

At this time only one ER bill has been received ($3554.32), with a second still to come. If the second bill is similar to the first, that's an estimated $7000 in emergency expenses alone. Hopefully financial aid from the hospitals will decrease the cost.

Dan's financial needs include paying for two emergency room visits, required doctor visits, plus paying ordinary living expenses until Dan's hand is healed enough to go back to work.