If you lose health insurance, what are the options?

[BirminghamExaminer]

My husband and I are paying $1200 a month for medical insurance now and we have to let it go because we can't afford that AND our house payment. We own a used book business and have been paying our own medical insurance for years. It went up over the last ten years from $250 a month to $1200 and we just can't afford it.

Here's my question: my husband is a Vietnam vet....does anybody know if we can see VA doctors if we get sick?

Here's my second question: Is there anything else we can do when we need medicines? My husband takes blood pressure medicine and I take thyroid medicine.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Warpy]

1. He can possibly get seen by the VA, but you're out of luck

While the military takes care of medical expenses for families of active duty soldiers, the families of vets are out of luck.

Look at your options for medication. Walmart, Target and Costco all have a list of nominally priced medications. Print them out and ask your doc if you can be changed to cheaper generic drugs (not advisable for thyroid, but you can do a trial and see what happens).

The worst parts of being insured are the lack of preventive care and the constant background fear. I've been uninsurable for 20 years, most of which I worked as an RN at hospitals that wouldn't hire me on staff with my health history. Docs and hospitals have gotten much better at working with me to lower costs and the cheap generic drugs at the 3 places I listed have helped fill in the blanks.

Welcome to my world. It sucks.

[uppityperson]

4. acquaintance is widow of retired vet, gets VA coverage. Is this

because dead spouse was retired military? (put in 20+ yrs)

[jody]

7. A widow of a honorably retired military veteran is covered by Tricare up to 65 and after by Medicare

as primary with Tricare as secondary.

She would have free drugs from military pharmacies, low cost drugs from a central Tricare pharmacy, or minimum cost drugs from any civilian pharmacy.

ON EDIT ADD Tricare

[uppityperson]

8. Thank you, thought it had something to do with "retired military" vs "vet".

She does, which made me wonder about spouses of vets who weren't "retired military".

[jody]

14. Retired military who are disabled and other cases have access to VA hospitals, treatment, and

pharmacies.

The coverage of non-retired veterans by VA can be confusing but VA offices are usually helpful.

[Warpy]

12. It could well be.

I just know spouses of non careerists were out of luck.

[GTurck]

47. Not true.

Spouses of vets can go to the VA and retired military and their spouses are covered through Tri-Care on almost everything and will still get Medicare if one or both of them worked after or during their service. This is first hand knowledge of veterans in living near Ft. Hood in Texas.

[uppityperson]

2. thyroid is relatively cheap, but it 100 days/or 3 months at a time.

That will save some money and docs are willing to rx it that way. If your husband is a vet, he is eligible for VA clinics. Some places it is better than others, but I think he's eligible and spouse is also.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. A few words about thyroid medication.

I have been on Armour since 1966. It works much better than Synthroid. Armour is cheap because it's ground up sheep glands from the slaughterhouse.

Don't let them put you on Synthroid or Cytomel. I have argued with docs for years over this.

It's a big conspiracy to keep people on the expensive stuff, and NOT To treat their symptoms, to the point that they have enough energy to do things.

On edit: Armour is NOT generic. They will try to put you on T4 which is not equivalent to Armour.
Armour has T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5. My doc pulled a switch on me, and gave me Synthroid. I immediately had cold feet and raised hell.

read at this website: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

[BirminghamExaminer]

22. Do you mean that you had cold feet literally? My doc will only give me synthroid

It sounds silly but I have cold feet all the time ...literally so that caught my eye but probably has nothing to do with the thyroid stuff.

[BirminghamExaminer]

26. Wow....ehrm, how do I insist on Armour from my endocrinologist?

Okay, I admit, I'm a bit shy about all of this Armour stuff. I have my yearly appointment with my endocrinologist on Monday. I've read the scientific data that suggests that Armour doesn't do a thing but have also read the comments by people who have taken both Armour and Synthroid et al, and want to at least try it. So, got any suggestions for pressuring my endocrinologist to give me Armour?

I guess I could say I'm having money problems right now...it's hard to do because I do have a science background and it's hard to ignore all that data out there that says in blind studies, no difference between Armour and synthroid could be discerned but maybe since those blind studies show that, I could suggest to him that since no differences were discerned, that he should give me Armour because it's cheaper?

Apparently there's nobody in my area that gives Armour.

[Native]

31. check out Mary Shomon's site on about.com - her book is fantastic as well

my doc says her site is right on the money. You'll find answers to just about everything you never wanted to know about thyroid issues. http://thyroid.about.com/mbiopage.htm

[uppityperson]

37. Good luck. There are some endocrinologists who will rx it, but many won't.

This is a list of top docs for thyroid issues, who will work with you. The first one I went to is on the list, but moved away. Of course my insurance doesn't cover any who are on the list now. If my regular doc decides to pull me off the natural thyroid, I will pay to see one who will "let" me continue it.

Actually I checked out a local ND who I'd heard was great, but I ended up with a very poor opinion of his scamming. I got put on natural thyroid (armour) by another ND who moved away, and my MD said he'd continue to cover me on it.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/doctors/a/topdocs.htm
Mary Shomon has a good website about thyroid issues, where that link above is from. Here is here main page http://thyroid.about.com/

[uppityperson]

35. I had to fight for Armour also, however there is generic natural thyroid

I went through many brands of synthetic before getting on Armour through a ND. My MD said I "could" stay on it since I am uppity and it was obvious the synthetics were not working for me. I was on a generic brand, which oddly enough was made by Forest also. What with the formulating changes last yr, have had to do some juggling to get the right dosages and am now on non-generic Armour brand.

I reacted negatively to some of the fillers in the synthetics, and had a real issue with Synthroid brand. We tried varied generics, then went to Synthroid Brand and all hell broke lose. I got extremely hypothyroidic over a month. My temp was way low, I quit eating, could hardly move at the end. Seriously. I had to think of what to say, then think of how to get my mouth to move. To get up and walk I had to think my way through each step. Went to the doc and he was appalled, thought I was just complaining over the phone. He held up his finger and instructed me to follow it with my eyes as he lowered it. It was very neat how my eyes ratcheted down rather than moving smoothly, but a bit scary also. We got my blood drawn for tests, then he gave me some other type synthetic. Not sure why I didn't absorb that Synthroid Brand crap, but it was rather a pain.

2 days later we got the blood tests back and they were within "normal" limits. He was very surprised because of how bad off I was (We figured another couple days and I'd have been in the hospital). Now if he gives me grief because my TSH is too low, I just remind him of that time, showing how inaccurate the lab levels can be, and point out that my free T3/T4 levels are also on the low side.

It was very odd coming out of that episode. I woke one day very achy, got out of bed because it hurt to lie down. And it hurt to be upright. I just hurt (fibromyalgia symptoms). The next day I woke understanding what it was like to be severely depressed but knowing it was related to hypothyroid made it ok.

Have you checked out Mary Shomon's thyroid website? not sure if I spelled her name right, but she has a lot of good stuff.

[Native]

40. I hear you - a lot of docs are completely disregarding the blood work these days and

just treating based on symptoms - because of exactly what you describe. I love Mary's site. It just amazes me how out of touch some docs are. My doc (also a friend) told me about one of her patients - had been to several endocrinologists over the course of a year - they all refused to treat her for hypothyroidism because her labs always came back within the normal range. The poor woman had gotten so bad, she couldn't get herself out of bed any longer. My doc ended up increasing her levels of meds until they were almost in the "don't go there" range before she started to improve. She then lowered them over time and the patient is now on a reasonable dose and HAS HER LIFE BACK. But, heck, her thyroid levels were fine - just like yours. Aaargh!!!

[uppityperson]

42. It was pretty wild.

I went to 2 endocrinologists at UW (WA) med center, both of whom told me I was over medicated and had a recurring eye infection as there was no way I could be reacting negatively to the inert synthetic thyroid medication. I know I'm uppity but it really pissed me off.

My initial endocrinologist told me I'd get nuked, then start on a med, get me in the range and adjust it until I felt better. Looking back on my many yrs ago lab tests, I always ran a bit hot. I pointed this out to my doctor when he was concerned about my levels and being over medicated. Why was it ok to be hot when I was normal, and not when I was taking supplemental thyroid? I was very glad to get on the natural stuff. Didn't feel like I used to, but sure felt much better than I did on synthetics.

[ProgrezivIndie]

3. eat healthy, get fit & stay fit, and for emergencies...

there could be "free clinics" nearby
http://www.freemedicalcamps.com

alternatively, there's the "emergency room"
(when BILLED, pay only what you can afford
but PAY something, don't just ignore the bills)

for necessary, but expensive prescriptions, see
https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php

[BirminghamExaminer]

32. Wow...

I looked at the free clinics page. There are two in my area. One is for Spanish speaking people mostly but it doesn't say you absolutely cannot go there if you need help. And then there's the free medical clinic downtown that says it caters to homeless people. That's probably where I'll end up. I don't get sick very often.

[Uben]

5. Here's an idea

My sister in law uses a service called Teladoc in Dallas. She pays a monthly fee, I believe, and then it's something like $35 a call. You can get drugs prescribed, but no narcotics. She has had it for a year or so now and is very happy with it. Might be somethihng to check out.

[Dr.Phool]

6. You die.

Bush put a means test on VA health care back in 2002. If your family income is above somewhere like $32k, he can't go there. I applied 2 years ago, and was turned down.

I'm on like my 8th health insurance plan in the last 8 years, through my former employer (bankrupt) and my wife's current employer. Last year she was paying $700 per month, just to add me. New company now. New plan, only $200 per month.

[BirminghamExaminer]

10. Income test....do they go strictly by gross income?

We own our own small business so our gross income is a lot different than our net income. Our net income is way lower than the VA cut off point but our gross income is higher. F$#%&king Bush.

[Oregone]

9. Emmigrate?

Just saying. :) I played the risk game for years, while being unemployed and young in the States. Now its a flat $108 a month for my family, no deductible, no exceptions.

[BirminghamExaminer]

11. Where did you emigrate to?

[Oregone]

15. Canada

But there are easier places to get into. Its tough for older people without a ton of money to get into this place. Its tough for anyone.

[BirminghamExaminer]

21. By old, what do you mean? I'm 50, he's 60...I guess that's old.

[Oregone]

23. Yeah, thats older...

Hell, Im not even in my 30s yet...

If you came as a retiree, you got to have big bucks (which isn't an issue if you had a decent home to sell and could move it in this time). I don't know any of the details about that.

If you came as a skilled worker, you would have to make up the age points by both having post grad degrees (a PhD would help) and being fluent in French....

There is also an investor class (self-employed/entrpreneurs)....you could possibly fit into this one if you sold a home and banked the funds, and developed an investment plan.

So anyway, there are easier places to get into. There are even some places without Universal Health Care that have decently priced medical services (some in Asia). Health tourism is big in a lot of places that provide quality care, but if you were willing to move to any of them, you could make you life more comfortable...

But of course, I know that leaving isn't easy. Its hard. So is dying though....so you know, everyone has choices.

[BirminghamExaminer]

33. Ha, well the older you get, the more 60 looks younger...than older...

We have our own small business. We have an antiquarian, used, and out-of-print book store. It's all online now after having a shop for years.

As for retirement....we don't see any way we will ever be able to retire.

We're rarely sick.

Why am I pitching this?

[leftstreet]

13. Who will be the first to request political asylum over health care rights?

Who knows, maybe someone's already tried.

[Oregone]

16. Haha...It wouldn't work though.

Your country isn't killing you. Its just letting you die, or creating conditions that do not prevent your death.

[leftstreet]

17. "just letting you die"

true dat.

[Native]

18. Look into an MSA account

do a little research online. You purchase a high deductible insurance plan ($5,000 - $10,000 per family, not per person) and then everything above that is covered at 100%, and you can see any doc you want. I've got United Healthcare with a $10,000 family deductible. Because I opted for the PPO (no penalty if I go outside of it though), I get some serious discounts. Just had 3 xrays done on my daughter - total of $103. Without the discount, one of them would have been over $100. A doc visit runs us $53.00. With this type of coverage, your insurance premium is very low because of the high deductible, and what you typically do with the savings is put that into an MSA (medical savings account) to draw from to pay for charges that would normally go toward your deductible. I have a thyroid issue and they took me without a problem. The other poster is correct. I don't know what meds you are taking, but full price, my Armour thyroid pills only run me $11 a month. A friend of mine is paying 4 times the amount I am for insurance, and even with a lower deductible, when you add in her co-pay, her out of pocket in a year's time is actually higher than mine. Unless you are going to the doc 4 to 5 times a week, you don't need to pay that extra $800-$900 a month in premiums just to cover those doc visits. People are so over insured when it comes to health care. You only need major medical if you have seriuos medical issues, are seeing a doc on a regular and frequent basis, or are paying out the ass for meds. A catastrophic plan protects you from the big ass biting stuff, but doesn't break the bank. Check it out. There are a lot of online insurance agencies that do a decent job. You can apply online - from start to finish. Oh, my plan also provides for $300 a year per person (no deductible) that goes toward preventive physcials. My first year premium for a family of 4 was only $380 a month. Amazing, huh?

[BirminghamExaminer]

20. How old are you? I think this makes a huge difference.

Our deductible is $5000 and we're still paying $1200 a month. We rarely go to the doctor. Our insurance was only $250 10 years ago when I was 40 and my husband was 50. Now that I'm 50 and he's 60, it's $1200 a month. My medicine is Synthroid and it has gone up to $30 a month but that's small compared to my husband's medicines, two are over $100 per prescription.

I go to the doctor probably 2-3 times a year. My husband about the same or less. It's absurd.

We're thinking we ought to be able to just get hospitalization insurance without the doctor visits insurance. We'd be paying a lot less.

[Native]

25. I'm 51. I'm telling you, the reason you're paying so much is because you have a major med policy.

My coverage is the same as everyone else's - most of the time it is superior. The only difference is my deductible. Look at it this way: Let's say you have a $2,000 deductible per person, 2x that per family, then your co-pay is 20% up to $10,000, and you have a copay for all doc visits and drugs. Think about what your potential out of pocket in a bad year could be. Now, compare that to a high deductible plan. Once you hit the $10,000 mark or you hit $2,000 & your husband makes up the other $8,000 - everything is covered at 100%. You have the security of knowing that no matter how bad things get, you'll never spend more than that deductible in the course of a year, and you can see whatever doc you like, go to whatever hospital you like, not be bothered with primary referrals and all the crap, etc... The only reason people don't look into this kind of thing is because they don't understand it or don't know about it. My husband is older than me, has high cholesterol & whacked out liver enzymes - my two kids are healthy. One is underweight. Of all the problems, what's the one thing they wanted medical records on? My underweight kid. My whole family is thin & we were all very skinny (but ate like there was no tomorrow) when we were children. Ironic that they'd request medical records on the healthiest member of my family. Anyway, hope this helps. It's at least worth exploring, you know? Losing sleep & stressing over lack of coverage can really work a number on you.

on edit - forgot to mention, somehow I wound up with a $5,000 per person ($10,000 family) plan. I don't believe this is Kosher with an MSA, but I'm not going to be the one to point that out. Nuther thing - what the IRS qualifies as legit medical expenses is extremely liberal compared to what ins. cos. cover. The money you put into the savings account can be used for almost anything - dental, vision, health club stuff - go to irs.gov and put HSA or "health savings account" into the search box. I keep calling them MSA's but there was a name change when the gov opened it up to anyone, not just people who were self-employed.

[BirminghamExaminer]

27. Hey I get what you're saying...but we already have a $5000 deductible

[BirminghamExaminer]

28. You're right, I will look around. This is ridiculous though!

I read about some doctor who has gone into "old fashioned" doctoring by getting all of his patients to pay $1500 a year for all their yearly medical visits...no insurance. That actually sounds good to me, especially since that's almost the same cost that one month of medical insurance is. But then there would still be the hospitalization insurance. That is what I would rather have but I'm not sure if anybody even offers that any more.

[Native]

34. Here are a couple of sites to check out . . .

http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa/faq_basics.shtml (explains how they work).

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi/hsa-health-savings-accounts.ds?allid=Yah26044&sid=clphsa - get an online quote & check out the actual coverage by punching in some data.

Good luck!

[BirminghamExaminer]

48. Thanks I'll check those out & apply at VA...even if it only covers him

that would be better than nothing.

[BirminghamExaminer]

29. How did you get your doctor to prescribe Armour? Mine won't.

[Native]

36. my doc prescribes both - depends on what you need . . .

Synthroid doesn't have T3 (as I recall). Armour has both 3 and 4. She said that she likes to start out with the natural stuff, but some people can't tolerate Armour (for whatever reason), and they may do better on Synthroid. I can't tell you how many internists and endocrinologists in our neck of the woods prescribe Armou. We're in a podunk county of Florida - so it's not a big city thing. Check out Mary's site - pull some documentation off her site, take it to your doctor, and tell him or her that if they aren't willing to explore alternatives, you'll see another doctor. My worst employees were nurses - they never questioned their docs - ingrained because of their profession. You have to advocate for yourself - no one else is going to do it for you. If there's a legit reason he/she has you on Synthroid, I'd even go so far as to check that out as well. Don't take anything for granted and always get a 2nd opinion if you're uncomfortable with any care or diagnosis. You only have that one body.

[uppityperson]

38. I will second Mary Shomon's site, and she has a "top doc" list there too.

[BirminghamExaminer]

44. My family doc says no, but I see endocrinologist Monday for annual

and I'm going to ask him. My family doctor said no because the scientific data suggests there's no discernible differences between that and Synthroid. But if that is the case then why not prescribe the cheaper Amour, right?

[Native]

49. No discernible difference? What a crock . . .

Here's a stunning difference: Synthroid is T4 ONLY (levothyroxine), while Armour gives you T4, T3, T2, and T1. Not a big difference at all, huh?

Back-up:
Armour Thyroid
Generic Name: Natural Thyroid
Manufactured by: Forest Pharmaceuticals

Armour Thyroid is a brand name of natural, dessicated thyroid, derived from the gland of pigs. it contains natural forms of the thyroid hormones T4, T3, T2, T1 and other components. This product was the sole thyroid hormone replacement for the first half of the 20th century, and is still available by prescription in the U.S. Some doctors, more often osteopaths, naturopaths, and holistics M.D.s, are in favor of these natural drugs, because they believe that since the drug contains a full spectrum of thyroid hormones, beyond just the T4 and T3, it most closely mimics the human thyroid hormone. The most popular brand of natural thyroid is Armour thyroid.

Synthroid
Manufactured by: Abbott Labs
Synthroid is a brand name of levothyroxine.
Levothyroxine/Synthetic T4

The vast majority of doctors prescribe the synthetic drug known as levothyroxine for thyroid hormone replacement. The most commonly known brand of levothyroxine is Synthroid. There's also Levoxyl, Levothroid, Unithroid, and many brands outside the U.S. In addition, there are "generic" versions of the T4 drugs, but many doctors do not recommend them. Studies have shown the brand name levothyroxine drugs in the U.S. to be bioqeuivalent, meaning that they accomplish the same thing from a medical standpoint Different brands, however, have different fillers, and a small number of patients apparently are allergic to the fillers in one versus another. Levothyroxine provides a synthetic version of one hormone, thyroxine, known as T4. Some people with hypothyroidism find that levothyroxine therapy is sufficient treatment for their hypothyroidism.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/drugdatabase/f/armour.htm
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/a/overview.htm

[JimWis]

24. Your husband should definitely check into VA as to what is

available. Not sure if it is available for spouses. My brother and I are also Vietnam vets. He gets meds from the VA and may have seen their doctors also. He often tells me I should look into it. He saves alot of money from what he says.

[BirminghamExaminer]

30. We're going to....

Even if it only covers him, our insurance would be cut in half. And his medicines alone cost over $250 a month. And we have a high deductible ($5000 per person).

I just looked online and we are going to get his DD214, and apply. It can't hurt anyway. And we have a big VA facility here in Birmingham. It will probably take a couple of months before we know anything but I'll post back any progress.

[vaberella]

39. I had to go on medicaid, pay up front, and go to University hospitals to get medical attention. n/t

[wolfgangmo]

41. Be thankful that your husband is ex-military

The rest of us are screwed.

My wife and I own and run a small community medical clinic. We have no health insurance. None. I've been in a car accident where the unlicensed driver of a big hotel chain blew through a stop sign and t-boned me. I have a spinal injury and the insurance companies in question do what they do - deny claims.

And so I work as many hours as I can before the pain becomes so intolerable that I can't even see. So be thankful that you have options.

My thoughts go with you.

[BirminghamExaminer]

45. The insurance we pay for now is Cobra...$1200 a month Cobra sucks

[Native]

50. COBRA is always expensive. It stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconcilliation Act . .

it's basically a provision that states employees, upon leaving their employer, are entitled to continue their coverage for a certain period of time. The time period depends on the reason for leaving the employer. If the reason for leaving employment is death (the employee dies), the surviving family members can continue it for quite some time. The reason it is expensive is because the pool of people typically taking advantage of it are generally in poor health. If you are healthy, you typically find something else to replace it. So, it's basically a stop-gap measure. It was never designed to be a continuing solution. Bottom line - our health care system sucks a big one.

[Captain Hilts]

43. There aren't any. nt

[Cleita]

46. As a war veteran, I don't see why your husband can't see them. He will

have to get in line though because the VA is underfunded and overwhelmed. Still, it's better than nothing. You should contact them and find out. I don't think you can though. I used to sign up for drug studies with Glaxo back when I couldn't afford my asthma meds. I got my drugs for free and they paid me as well. Of, course I had to put myself up as a human guinea pig.