Paying the bills

    • Anonymous
      September 25, 2008 at 7:25 am

      I’ll be starting ivig on Monday. My insurance, United HealthCare (which is otherwise pretty good), appears to only cover 90% of the costs. My back of the envelope calculations show that leaves me out of pocket something in the neighborhood of $20K per year for as long as my treatments go on.

      Fortunately, I can currently afford that, but that’ll change in a hurry if I find myself unable to work, and even if it doesn’t, it takes a big bite out of things like saving for retirement and my kids’ college.

      Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on dealing with these bills? My doctor has suggested that the ivig provider may be willing to negotiate the residual, uninsured portion of his costs. Has anyone had any experience to bear that out?

      Best,

      Barry

    • Anonymous
      September 25, 2008 at 11:41 am

      Are you sure you don’t have a an annual family limit on out of pocket costs, like maybe in the $5 – $7K range, on your policy?

      Not saying you don’t want to be proactive regarding contacting the IVIG manufacturer, but see what happens on your first EOB, as the carrier might knock down the cost considerably from list. Also, there’s a realistic chance that you may end up utilizing a different treatment, long term, that works best for you. IVIG is not always the most effective, for everyone.

      Good luck!

    • Anonymous
      September 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm

      We have United Healthcare and after we pay our out-of-pocket max, then UHC pays 100% of the IVIG. Our out-of-pocket is $1,700 per year. The only bad thing is we do have a $2 million cap.

    • Anonymous
      September 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm

      Hi Barry, Do a search on Jerimy’s posts, he has given out ivig help information in the past, I’m not sure where but doing a search on his posts will come up with it. Or you can send him a pm-private message and he will give you the info.

    • Anonymous
      September 25, 2008 at 8:25 pm

      Hi Barry, There are two ways I am dealing with the ivig costs-I have gotten on my assist. list with my ivig manufacturer and I have applied for financial assist. with my home infusion company. Hope this helps you. Good luck.

    • Anonymous
      September 26, 2008 at 1:03 am

      Like Carla, we have UHC and pay 100% up to deductible of about $1500, then 10% up to max-out-of-pocket about $5000 (includes deductible), then 0 the rest of the year. UHC has many plans so yours may vary.

      As for costs, with your provider being in-network they agreed to a discounted price and your 10% is based on that. For example, each treatment bills insurance about $3200 and they allow $1500. Your 10% would be $150. To get to $20K would take 133 treatments (2.5 per week). That’s a lot.

      Main thing is to not react to the numbers (like I did) and loose a lot of sleep until you know for sure what they are.