The Chronically Ill support Group

[luvwinnie]

Here's a touchy topic: Anyone worry about finances due to their illness? Thankfully, I am still able to work (thanks to meds) and I have very good insurance, but I worry about what would happen if I could NOTwork. It's very scary. DH's ins. isn't as good, plus we could not pay our mortgage on just his salary. And DH seems to be in denial about this POSSIBILITY for the future.

 

[chell]

It is difficult to try not to worry so much about your finances. Hopefully we can all save up a little extra just in case we do hit that rainy day. But I sure hope none of us need it.

How come saving has to be so difficult? At least for me it is.

 

[Shugardrawers]

You aren't alone. We have pretty good insurance but it doesn't cover everything. I worry about money daily. I have struggled to work as much as I can throughout this whole thing but 15 hours is pushing it. Poor Dh is working all the overtime he can scrape up. It is pure felicity that Dh's grandmother died late last summer and left him a chunk of money equivilent to a years salary for him. If things ever get finalized we'll be able to pay everyone and things will be much easier for us. Dh doesn't seem to understand that yeah, it's $20 for each rx, $35 for some, but multiply that by the 10 to 15 different meds I take at any given time and that's a boatload of money! Not to mention co-pays for 3 different docs and the 20% of tests and hospitalizations and surgeries the insurance doesn't cover.

There really ought to be some kind of assistance for those of us with chronic and catastrophic illnesses without having to go completely under to qualify. If I were to divorce Dh all my medical expenses would be covered by the state, no problem. Back when my grandmother was going in the nursing home, the director told my grandpa he should divorce grandma so that the state would pay the expenses and he'd still be able to keep his house and feed himself. He was appalled and of course didn't.

Dh said the other night it was all getting overwhelming. Yeah, try walking in my shoes for a while honey.

 

[Patty3]

I am probably older than most, 57, and at this time, I do not worry about money. DH retired from his first career and is on his second. He has an excellent pension. But, if he dies before me, I only get 40% of that and then I will worry. I took an early retirement, little pension, but I am happy with my decision.

I remember going to the grocery store when the children were little and could not afford to put a magazine in the cart. If we had $10 over for the month after all of our bills were paid and groceries bought, we were quite happy. I am glad those days are over, at least for the present.

I still have not heard from the Cardiologist in regards to my thallium stress test. I guess no news is good news. I am trying to remain optimistic. I just do not know why doctors blurt out some remarks and leave the patient hanging.

 

[luvwinnie]

SHugardrawers, I know what you mean about the copays...although you are on more meds than I am. I mean, when we bought our house we hadn't planned on having to spend over $200 a mth. on medication. Luckily, with the new insurance it has gone down by using ExpressScripts mail order and I am off one med. Yippee! ANd I know I am SO lucky I pay just $50 now for 3 months of a med. that costs about $1200 per MONTH. I know many people who have to pay about $300 per month towards it or can't get it at all. My rheum. is not in network and is $250 per visit.

You have to pay 20%??? Are your doctors in network or does your plan work differently? That could really add up.

 

[luvwinnie]

I am probably older than most, 57, and at this time, I do not worry about money. DH retired from his first career and is on his second. He has an excellent pension. But, if he dies before me, I only get 40% of that and then I will worry. I took an early retirement, little pension, but I am happy with my decision.

I remember going to the grocery store when the children were little and could not afford to put a magazine in the cart. If we had $10 over for the month after all of our bills were paid and groceries bought, we were quite happy. I am glad those days are over, at least for the present.

I still have not heard from the Cardiologist in regards to my thallium stress test. I guess no news is good news. I am trying to remain optimistic. I just do not know why doctors blurt out some remarks and leave the patient hanging.

Are you covered by DH"s insurance? Early retirement sounds wonderful except I don't know what we'd do for health insurance.
I hope you hear soon!

 

[Shugardrawers]

You have to pay 20%??? Are your doctors in network or does your plan work differently? That could really add up.

For each Dr visit we pay a co-pay. $15 to our family dr, $25 each to the gyno and the onco. I see all 3 of them once a week. I also see a social worker/therapist twice a month at $25 a pop. So, assuming I don't need a special appt for a cold or something that's $310 in office visit co-pays alone each month. We don't pay anything else for office visits. For bloodwork, x-rays, mri and other tests I have to go outpatient at the hospital. Our plan covers 80% of those charges. It's running around $350 a month. If I am actually an inpatient at the hospital they pay 90%. Luckily, there is a yearly out of pocket limit and it's not been hard to make that By June I should be paying out nothing but co-pays again. Then everything else will be covered 100%. Until January when we start all over....

 

[Patty3]

Are you covered by DH"s insurance? Early retirement sounds wonderful except I don't know what we'd do for health insurance.
I hope you hear soon!

I am covered by DH's insurance. I did not realize how much in medical bills some of you pay. I can definitely see it putting a strain and a big one on the budget. I just wish I had a magic wand and we all would be healthy.

 

[paigevz]

Heard from the doctor. No sign of liver cancer this time!

About the money: We just tell the receptionists we don't have it (the part insurance doesn't pay). They'll have to bill us. Then we send what we can. They have always done it, I don't know if they have to, or if they are just nice about it. I hope we'll catch up someday.

Part of the reason dh can't really leave his job even though it's stressful, is that he'd have to go on COBRA for the insurance, and it's VERY expensive. Right now we have 35 dollar copay for every office visit, but it's 100 for the specialists, then we pay 20 percent of all else.

Hugs for everybody here. Thanks for listening to me when you all have so much to worry about yourselves.

 

[chell]

Thanks for updating us Paige.

 

[Rajah]

Relafin -- That's what the medicine is my mom takes that is an anti-inflamatory that really helps her with pain

 

[chell]

Relafin -- That's what the medicine is my mom takes that is an anti-inflamatory that really helps her with pain

Hey hun!

 

[Rajah]

Hey hun!

Hi hi

 

[Rajah]

Oh, and BTW -- my mom just found an article on discoid lupus and she agrees with me that the symptoms list fits me almost to a "T". So she's begging me to try to get in to her rhumatologist and see what he says. I'll see what I can do.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I went to the doctor yesterday and my BP and pulse were a bit high... They upped my atenolol for 50Mgs to 100mgs...SHe told me to watch my pulse and make sure it doesn't drop below 50 while exercising..I'm a bit nervous about taking the meds.. A couple night s ago before they upped my meds,I had a dream that my pulse and BP dropped really low and I fainted

 

[luvwinnie]

I went to the doctor yesterday and my BP and pulse were a bit high... They upped my atenolol for 50Mgs to 100mgs...SHe told me to watch my pulse and make sure it doesn't drop below 50 while exercising..I'm a bit nervous about taking the meds.. A couple night s ago before they upped my meds,I had a dream that my pulse and BP dropped really low and I fainted

Oh, I hope the meds help with NO negative effects!

 

[Patty3]

Since the Cardiologist changed my BP medicine three weeks ago, my BP has been all over the place. Earlier this week, I was able to get an appt with my Internist for this afternoon. I told him how concerned I was over the echo and thallium stress test. He called the cardio doctors office and got the results. The stress was fine, there is a slight problem with the echo, but the Internist feels it is related to my high BP. I am so relieved.

Thank you everyone for your support.

 

[arminnie]

And get this.....my cholesterol went up but because I have too much good cholesterol , did you ever hear such a thing?

I don't know how high yours is, but mine has been as high as 230 because my good cholesterol is so high. My LDL (bad cholesterol) is quite low.

My internist who is really just the best in the world told me that it was absolutely nothing to worry about and that total cholesterol is kind of meaningless because it is the HDL and LDL numbers that really count.

 

[Shugardrawers]

Arminnie, your baby is gorgeous!!!!

 

[arminnie]

Here's a touchy topic: Anyone worry about finances due to their illness? Thankfully, I am still able to work (thanks to meds) and I have very good insurance, but I worry about what would happen if I could NOTwork. It's very scary. DH's ins. isn't as good, plus we could not pay our mortgage on just his salary. And DH seems to be in denial about this POSSIBILITY for the future.

If you cannot work because of illness, you may qualify for social security disability benefits. I don't think they start for six months or a year, and I think it is supposed to be for something that is not just temporary.

If you qualify for social security disability (must have a certain number of quarters of paying into SS) you are also eligible for medicare. This is not medicaid. Your assets do not count. It's as if you are 65. You are also eligible to obtain a medicare supplemental policy (although not all supplemental plans accept disability ss recipients).

I think the minimum payment is approximately $800 a month. Some of it may not be taxable depending on your other income and your state's tax code.

It is a long process though, and they turn down everyone at least once or twice and then you go for a hearing with an administrative judge. I have a friend who was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer, and she was turned down originally. I have another friend with fibromyalgia who was turned down even at the hearing but appealed and finally was approved.

Some companies offer disability insurance. In CA there is a mandatory short-term (1 year) disability insurance that all employees have to pay into. I think some other states have it also.

All of the plans that offer disability insurance really try very hard not to pay claims. It is important to keep pursuing it even if turned down if you truly cannot work.