Reply To: IVIG and Medicare

I had a good experience with my insurance co., Blue Shield of California. It was an HMO-type policy provided by my employer — I didn’t pick it for any particular reason. I went into the hospital diagnosed with GBS (it was actually CIDP) where I stayed 18 weeks and received nearly every kind of procedure and treatment available for this disease, including IvIg. There were no problems I am aware of wherein the insurance co. balked at a procedure my doctors thought medically necessary.

By the time I went home I was retired, and I continued my policy under Cal-COBRA, even though the costs of carrying it were huge. With this insurance, my costs were manageable; without it, the hospitalization would have been disasterous. I carried it for a year and a half until I reached Medicare age this month. Then I switched to a BSoC supplemental plan without even considering others, because my BSoC experience had been so good. I signed up for every option and the cost is about one-quarter of my pre-Medicare cost.

I don’t have any experience with IvIg under Medicare, however, because I have not received it after the two rounds I was given early in the progression of the disease.now, the only treatment I receive is medication, and there are no difficulties with that.