I Think I'm Allergic To Insulin

[captcalhoun]

sometimes i am SO glad i live in the UK.

get well soon Hannah! and happy christmas!

 

[Leroy]

I hope you find a way to get well soon thestrangequark.

I'm really upset about the way healthcare reform has gone lately the two best things in the bill the public option and the lowering of the medicare age have been removed. The only good thing left in there is the banning of the pre-existing conditions clause. The terrible thing about it is I think they left in the mandate that you have to buy insurance the problem with that is there are no price controls or anything like public insurance to fall back on so I don't know how people who can't afford insurance are supposed to buy it to avoid any fines.

I would have really liked the public option because after I get kicked off my parents very generous union plan I have no clue what to do for insurance afterwards if the jobs market hasn't improved. The lowering of the medicare age would have helped my parents if they wanted to retire earlier. So when people say that "people don't want a public option" it's bull because I wanted the public option.

I'm lucky so far the only chronic condition I have technically doesn't exist Tinnitus. People always think that bad things can't happen to them but the hissing in my right ear says otherwise.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I've gotten to learn the joys of what "out-of-network" means with my insurance. I pay an arm and a leg for it, but if you go out-of-network, which my family has to because no one in in the surrounding counties takes my insurance, it costs a fucking fortune.

Have you consulted with your insurance company about this? If there are no suitable in-network providers in the area, we pay at the in-network level. Of course, we're a non-profit, so we often do things differently than other companies.

Yeah, I have. It's HealthNet. They don't care. They're ranked the worst insurer in the country, and now I know why. But most of the people at my job are single and don't have kids, so they go with the HSA option. HSA is simply worthless to me. I'd have to pay what I'm paying now and throw money into an HSA account every month. I cannot afford to do so. And the out-of-network penalties for the HSA option are even worse...

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish you were able to get coverage with my company. If private insurers were required to do business the way we do, the battle would be halfway won.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, I was listening to the NPR the other day, and they had a quick little bit about someone who went to the ER for something that turned out to be minor. The treatment? A bag of ice. The bill? $1800. God bless America.

Sounds like my $600 Tylenol. A couple of months after I had been diagnosed with HBP, one night around 11 PM, I went to the ER because my blood pressure shot up to 300 and I was very concerned. After signing in and waiting 3 hours, they took me back and checked my blood pressure. It was 196, which was still high. So they gave me two Tylenol. I got a bill about 3 weeks later, and the bill was $750. $600 for two 500mg acetaminophen, and $150 for the administrative fees.

J.

 

[Major Chord]

^That's ridiculous! Hopefully either a public option becomes available, or I'll be able to stay on my parents' insurance until I can get a job (I'm going to go to school for teaching, and all of the schools in my area have amazing coverage, so much so that we switched to my mom's plan through the school district), because after having to buy a few extra pills for my prescription (they short counted me, but refused to acknowledge it), I realized just how much the shit I need to take costs. 3 pills for $10. That works out to $300 a month. Add into that ointments and creams for my eczema, and you're up to at least $400 per month.

Hope this gets sorted out soon TSQ.

 

[trampledamage]

Having lived in the UK and now Canada, I've never had to experience what it would be like to have to personally pay for your medicine, until a couple of months ago when mr trampledamage's work insurance plan decided he was spending too much on medication and shut down his coverage.

It was all fixable - we just had to apply to Saskatchewan Health to be moved up to their higher drug plan where the government covers more of it, and the insurance company then tops up the rest - and it's now all back to normal and we'll be able to claim back what we paid. But those two months were a horrifying education. mr trampledamage is getting good treatment for various things, but the drugs are so expensive - I'd hate to have to decide whether to pay for the medicine or use the money for other things and let his health conditions slide - none of them are life-threatening so he could "survive" but life wouldn't be much fun.

 

[T'Baio]

Yes, listen up America. Public health care is horrible socialism that must be avoided at all cost.



Thank God, I'm Canadian.

 

[Amaris]

^That's ridiculous! Hopefully either a public option becomes available, or I'll be able to stay on my parents' insurance until I can get a job (I'm going to go to school for teaching, and all of the schools in my area have amazing coverage, so much so that we switched to my mom's plan through the school district), because after having to buy a few extra pills for my prescription (they short counted me, but refused to acknowledge it), I realized just how much the shit I need to take costs. 3 pills for $10. That works out to $300 a month. Add into that ointments and creams for my eczema, and you're up to at least $400 per month.

Hope this gets sorted out soon TSQ.

Oh yeah, it adds up very fast. If I had decent insurance, my medications would be anywhere from $75 to $90 a month for all 4 of them. That's far better than the multiple hundreds it costs now, and that still happens when our family doctor can't get the medications I need in time.

As for you, TSQ, all my best. I do hope it works out.
Like others, I want a public option on the table but it's gone now, and any real change in healthcare for our benefit is out the window.

J.