The beauty of health insurance Membership card

Limelife50
Limelife50 Member Posts: 476
in Kidney Cancer #1
Yes I am one of the fortunate ones to have health insurance,I believe my lifetime benefits are about 1 million dollars which at this time leaves me with about 900,000 left give or tae a few dollars.Now to my point,I have had to spend the whole damm week worrying whether or not my cancer has returned or not because on 4/09 when I had my CT scan my moron of a doctor did not order it with contrast ,I even had the admissions lady at the hospital call the doctors office twice to ask contrast be added only to be turned down.Well low and behold the report came back with a suspicious small nodule ,so it was recommended I have an MRI and get this with CONTRAST.So I show up on 4/13 for MRI only to be asked did my my doctor order a blood test to check my creatine and GFR levels which he did not bother to do ,at first they said they just wanted to do the MRI without contrast then I responded I am going home then they decided to do the blood test,ok everything came back normal and I got my contrast ,only this weekend has kind of sucked because I have to wait until early next week for the results.Now all this kinda of pissed me off ,but wait here is the beauty of having health insurance,this past week I have been calling around other health facilities looking for another RCC doctor,when I call these places they always ask me some questions concerning my health issues and then they always ask the one magical question,(what type of insurance do I have)and after that always later in the the I get a follow up call from a concerned person .Have not decided yet who my next doctor will be yet ,I am still looking around,but I'm not in to much of a hurry I have medical insurance.Oh and one more thing my sympathies towards the people who do not have insurance I really hope one day soon every one has it so we can all be treated with dignity,Have A Nice Day!!!

Comments

  • lbinmsp
    lbinmsp Member Posts: 266
    #2
    You are so right!
    I cannot even imagine what those without insurance go through - especially if cancer rears its ugly head! I was put on Sutent and, although I knew it was expensive, I had no clue just how expensive. My oncologist office worked with my insurance company and then called me to tell me what my out of pocket would be - $30 - I was surprised but happy! Then I went online to see how much it actually cost and I nearly fainted. 28 pills - nearly $10,000. I've heard, however, that many of the drug companies are providing financial assistance for people to get these potentially life-saving drugs. Compassion sometimes seems in short supply - so it's wonderful to see it come from perhaps an unlikely source.
  • j_rod
    j_rod Member Posts: 125
    #3
    lbinmsp said:

    You are so right!
    I cannot even imagine what those without insurance go through - especially if cancer rears its ugly head! I was put on Sutent and, although I knew it was expensive, I had no clue just how expensive. My oncologist office worked with my insurance company and then called me to tell me what my out of pocket would be - $30 - I was surprised but happy! Then I went online to see how much it actually cost and I nearly fainted. 28 pills - nearly $10,000. I've heard, however, that many of the drug companies are providing financial assistance for people to get these potentially life-saving drugs. Compassion sometimes seems in short supply - so it's wonderful to see it come from perhaps an unlikely source.

    Double coverage...
    I began working in my current position as a teacher in 2007. I have a good medical plan. At the time, cancer was not a concern as no one in my blood related family had ever had cancer. All were/are in good health. However, those 'supplemental insurance' people came to our school and met with each employee convining each person to purchase an additional policy. This particular group offered 'catestrophic' insurance - cancer was the coverage. Later, they added heart and stroke. I pruchased the insurance - it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageously priced, either. In hindsight, it was the best impulse purchase I ever made. I guess when I called my rep, he also informed me that I had opted for the higher 'first occurance' payment - that is, the first time I ever need the insurance, and after providing the supporting documentation, they overnight express a one time first-occurance payment of $5K - which ends up covering my deductible and co-pay for last year, and since this is a new calendar year, it will take care of this year's deductible and co-pay as well. Then, for each doctor visit, hospital stay, medication, etc. etc., they pay a set amount which happens to cover my additional co-pay amounts, hotel stay for a family member, travel expenses to and from treatment, etc. since I will be on follow up care for who knows how long. I have been incredibly lucky through this whole process as I have not had to pay out of pocket or through the nose.
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #4
    j_rod said:

    Double coverage...
    I began working in my current position as a teacher in 2007. I have a good medical plan. At the time, cancer was not a concern as no one in my blood related family had ever had cancer. All were/are in good health. However, those 'supplemental insurance' people came to our school and met with each employee convining each person to purchase an additional policy. This particular group offered 'catestrophic' insurance - cancer was the coverage. Later, they added heart and stroke. I pruchased the insurance - it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageously priced, either. In hindsight, it was the best impulse purchase I ever made. I guess when I called my rep, he also informed me that I had opted for the higher 'first occurance' payment - that is, the first time I ever need the insurance, and after providing the supporting documentation, they overnight express a one time first-occurance payment of $5K - which ends up covering my deductible and co-pay for last year, and since this is a new calendar year, it will take care of this year's deductible and co-pay as well. Then, for each doctor visit, hospital stay, medication, etc. etc., they pay a set amount which happens to cover my additional co-pay amounts, hotel stay for a family member, travel expenses to and from treatment, etc. since I will be on follow up care for who knows how long. I have been incredibly lucky through this whole process as I have not had to pay out of pocket or through the nose.

    Insurance or freebie
    I do know that my insurance would have limited my choices for my treatment. And I am sure that that would have limited my participation on this forum due to my probable expiration date. But One extremely lucky offer that I readily accepted was to be offered my MDX trial. Me nor anyone else except would have been able to afford the care I have been given. The check ups. The scans, biopsies, blood work, and infusions. I bet the value will be more than a million dollars. But I guess the financial risk will be more than worth it for them. Probably to the tune of billions of dollars. But the bottom line is that without a third party footing the bill, life would be much shorter. Believe me. I am very thankful.

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