When Rosalyn Hicks became sick enough to consider going to urgent care, the first thing she thought about was money. With rent and other bills coming due, she waited a couple of days to see if she would get better on her own.
“Honestly, I think about the money first,” Hicks said. “There was one time I was feeling really sick, and I was going back and forth about going to urgent care because my copay was $75. I had bills coming out that week, and I knew if I went, it wasn’t just going to be the $75. I’d have to drive there, and if they gave me a prescription, that was another expense too.”
The cost of receiving medical care doesn’t end with the amount charged at the doctor’s office. For Hicks and another Bakersfield resident, Jacob Diaz, gas, missed work, child care, prescriptions, and medical supplies can all add to the expense of seeking treatment.
Sometimes, they even determine whether they seek care at all.
“If I have an appointment, especially if it’s in Bakersfield, I have to put gas in my car and figure out how much time I’m going to be gone,” Hicks said. “If the appointment is during the week, I might have to take time off work, and that’s money I have to make up somewhere else. Then there’s my kids. I have to figure out who’s going to watch them, or if I can bring them with me.”
For residents traveling from other Kern County communities, the time and distance required to reach medical care in Bakersfield can turn an appointment into a larger financial and logistical commitment.
“Sometimes just getting everything lined up makes me think twice about scheduling the appointment in the first place,” Hicks said.
For Diaz, who has lived with Type 1 diabetes since he was 16, those costs are ongoing. Managing his condition requires visits with his regular doctor and an endocrinologist, along with bloodwork, prescription pickups, insulin, and testing supplies.
“I’m used to dealing with it, but it’s still a lot,” Diaz said. “It’s not like I just go to one appointment every few months and that’s it. There’s always something I need to do for it.”
Diaz said that, to receive care, he often has to visit several locations because his doctor, laboratory, and pharmacy aren’t all in the same place.
“Mostly, it’s gas,” Diaz said. “Sometimes I’m driving around to two or three places. You go to the doctor, then they want bloodwork, and then you still have to go get whatever they prescribed. It turns into a whole day sometimes.”
For Diaz, the expenses continue at home. He regularly needs insulin, a continuous glucose monitor, and other supplies to manage his diabetes. He stated he also carries snacks in case his blood sugar drops and tries to adjust his diet to help manage the condition.
“Sometimes I just have to buy what I can afford and try to make it work,” Diaz said. “I know what I’m supposed to eat, but that doesn’t mean I always have the money to buy it.”
Both Hicks and Diaz said financial pressure has caused them to delay care. Diaz has postponed appointments and bloodwork when he could not afford to miss work, while Hicks has weighed the cost of urgent care against bills that could not wait.
“I know that’s probably not the best way to look at it when you’re sick, but when you only have so much money in your account, you start weighing everything against everything else,” Hicks said. “Do I go to urgent care, or do I make sure I have enough money for the things I already have to pay for?”
