Insurance Frustration
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February 8, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Wow, I am so angry I can’t stand it. My company switched insurance companies this year and when I went last month to neuro, I was having quite a bit of hand involvement, etc. and need IVIG. I had pretty good results in December. It has taken over two eeks to get form from insurance company and now it is “approved”. However, the dollar amount they approved does not cover the cost o the med. So now they are calling around to see who will do this sort of like ‘charity’. I work for a large hospital system and asked why they can’t provide it, and they won’t do it either because of cost!! So what am I paying insurance for? I just had to vent here because if this is goig to be ongoing, etc. I am sunk. I’m having trouble wlking, typing, even the bathroom is getting to be a challenge. and the worst is I was really excited that this worked for me as well a it did. Does anyone have any thoughts or have you gotten insurance to increase dollr coverage? thanks….
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February 8, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Your dr may need to change the billing code in order for the insurance to cover the total cost.
You might even be able to contact the maker of your specific IVIG and ask them if they can help you out. I believe some drug companies give out grants or something for people who can’t afford their meds.
Good luck.
Kelly -
February 8, 2008 at 10:48 pm
They do quite a bit of this in their office and she said this is the first time she has had them offer to pay less than cost for the drug.
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February 8, 2008 at 10:55 pm
[COLOR=”Blue”]Someone please correct me if I’m wrong,[/COLOR] but if you were dx with GBS in April you shouldn’t need IVIG any more. If the IVIG helped you in December you might need to talk to you doctor about that dx.
John
GBS Mar 04 -
February 8, 2008 at 11:12 pm
John – Gabrielle was re-dx’d with CIDP in November. Her first dx was GBS, which is an extremely common 1st dx amongst CIDP’ers.
Kelly
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February 8, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Gabrielle – This might be a case of your insurance trying to get out of paying for it because they are being cheap. It might take a fight on your part & on the part of your dr to get this to go through.
Good luck,
Kelly -
February 9, 2008 at 12:14 am
My bad, I was one line short of reading everything I needed to. – Gabrielle, Kelly has some good advice for you. It may not be easy but you can and should win that fight. Keep us informed as things happen. Can you tell us who your insurance is with? Someone here may have already won that fight with them. Best of luck, I’ll say a special prayer tonight.
John
GBS Mar 04 -
February 9, 2008 at 9:25 am
Hi John and Kelly
Re Diagnosis, Kelly is right, I started with GBS dx and then was changed to CIDP. Had good results for 6 hours fist round of IVIG, and then 3.5 weeks of good results with second round. Then employer changed from United to Great West this year. all of this just happened on Friday so Monday I will make some phone calls. Things that improved though, like swallowing and not choking, and taking a deep breath, are coming back. This is how I felt back in October, plus the exhaustion. I just feel like I am being eaten up my myself if that is a good visual….thanks for the info and nice words. Gabrielle
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February 11, 2008 at 12:03 am
Gab, fight ’em as long and hard as you can! You and I know how this deal works and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Your doc should be your champion in this and see that Great West steps up and pays. When I was an OB nurse I dealt with Great West ins. …99% of the time they paid up when the doc battled them over a dx / payment. It’s a shame that it takes that to get them to cover what they know should be covered…but anytime they can get out of paying and save that $$$, they’ll do it. They hope you’ll give up and let them off the hook.
What’s so frustrating is that this requires you to use up your small reserve of strength to battle these morons. You are in my prayers!
Sic ’em!Carla
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