Amish in PA and charity care

DidiRN · Oct 5, 2004

I used to live close to a large Amish community in Ohio. I was told by several nurses who worked at the local hospital there that these people pay their bills in cash, refuse any charity.

Sherri

lee1 · Oct 5, 2004

I used to live close to a large Amish community in Ohio. I was told by several nurses who worked at the local hospital there that these people pay their bills in cash, refuse any charity.
Sherri

I would find that hard to believe especially if they were having open heart surgery. 10 of these kind of surgeries would wipe out any savings a community could possibly have. Small stuff maybe, but not the big stuff

Even stents/angioplasty can be very expensive.

Noahm · Oct 5, 2004

I would find that hard to believe especially if they were having open heart surgery. 10 of these kind of surgeries would wipe out any savings a community could possibly have. Small stuff maybe, but not the big stuff
Even stents/angioplasty can be very expensive.

The Amish are absolutely loaded and if one gets ill the whole community chips in as well. An Amish person is more likely to be able to pay for an operation by cash than your average person.

lee1 · Oct 5, 2004

The Amish are absolutely loaded and if one gets ill the whole community chips in as well. An Amish person is more likely to be able to pay for an operation by cash than your average person.

After my recent visit last week I would not say that is true. I have seen what they sell other than farm products. I would think that they have trouble making ends meet. Farming in not that lucrative here in the USA. Their major crops seem to be tobacco, soy, corn right now. Corn not even grown for eating but for animal food or other uses

1 open heart surgery cost more than $75,000 even if you only have a 4-5 day stay.

Noahm · Oct 5, 2004

After my recent visit last week I would not say that is true. I have seen what they sell other than farm products. I would think that they have trouble making ends meet. Farming in not that lucrative here in the USA. Their major crops seem to be tobacco, soy, corn right now. Corn not even grown for eating but for animal food or other uses
1 open heart surgery cost more than $75,000 even if you only have a 4-5 day stay.

I think their most lucrative products are furniture and furnishings. I personally know people who spend absolutely insane amounts of money on having their houses done out in hand made amish crafts and furniture. The amount they spent on an amish hand carved dining table was mind blowing. They are not the only people that buy this stuff.

By the way my profile says UK but Im originally from Pennsylvania. :)

DidiRN · Oct 5, 2004

I'll reiterate what Noahm says, you would be very surprised how much money these folks have. They don't believe in flashing it around and they dress very plain, so are not going to appear like they have any money. But believe me, they do. Lots of it. I'm sure they are making a killing too with tourism. And they are very good about taking care of each other. It may not appear that way just driving through the area, but believe me they do. They are well known in my old neck of the woods on how frugal they are.

But you are correct about the farming, I just read an article not too long ago about how alot of them are leaving farming for profit and doing other things, such as furniture production and such. However, they are still managing quite well, and they do help each other out too.

I'm also wondering if they might be alot healthier than the rest of us, they seem to be alot more physically active and perhaps they don't have the need to have so many bypass surgeries and such like we do. But I also hear about the tendencies, since they are a close-knit group, to have many genetic illnesses passed along. Another friend of mine who used to run squad in the area told me how many Amish dwarfs she saw. I personally never saw any, but then again, I lived one county away from this area.

Sherri

After my recent visit last week I would not say that is true. I have seen what they sell other than farm products. I would think that they have trouble making ends meet. Farming in not that lucrative here in the USA. Their major crops seem to be tobacco, soy, corn right now. Corn not even grown for eating but for animal food or other uses
1 open heart surgery cost more than $75,000 even if you only have a 4-5 day stay.

bhart · Oct 5, 2004

We have a fairly large Amish population here in Northern Indiana - and most do pay in cash.

eng_nurse · Oct 5, 2004

We have a fairly large Amish population here in Northern Indiana - and most do pay in cash.

I live in Amish country, PA and I will restate what others have said, they do have money. My Husband was in the wholesale lumbar business for awhile and dealt with the Amish a lot and they were very shrewd and frugal businessmen. They have a ton of money and if a family doesn't have it by themselves the community contributes to it. They also have something called insurance that business pay into, it isn't called insurance and they do this in case they have an accident with their buggy (which happened when a buggy side-swiped my in-laws car and they paid their car repair bill with CASH) and other things. I can go on and on. They do not spend their money on what they thing our worldly things we possess such as latest fashion, computer games, cars, college educations, etc. The money is kept within the community and so it just builds. I can drive about 2 miles from where I live and be on an Amish farm.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2004

I have noted with the few that I have cared for, that they tend to be healthier and recover faster from surgery, as they want to be up and out of bed after surgery quicker. The family pitches in more and they tend to bring some of their own stuff in (food, lotion) and decline some of the hospital stuff.

They tend to be less likely to run to the MD for ABX after a slight sniffle, and don't tend to request the latest test, drug, or fad problem. People work through minor aches, pains, and illnesses. They also have some of their own as MDs and as Nurses.

There are a few endemic anomalies - I have seen several cases of polydactiley.

oramar · Oct 6, 2004

I am one of those people that have a house full of Amish funiture and I love it. It is so charming because my kitchen chairs have the marks of hand tools on them. I heard that UPMC gets tons of Amish patients and I heard they pay their bills. I heard that nothing could be more humiliating to them than to own a debt. Since the whole community absorbs the cost of a illness you could almost consider them a self insured community.