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Relief in sight?? Let's pray it is!

Hey everyone!

Just joined this forum and think it's great. So here's my story....

For the past 4 years I've had some serious issues. Constant loose stools, random pain etc. However I just thought everyone was different and dealt with it. The past year my pain became really severe so I finally saw a gastroenterologist.

2 days before this past Christmas I received the wonderful news that I had Crohns. Merry Christmas! I know a close friend with the disease so I'm pretty sure I was in denial at first. Christmas helped with that as I threw myself into holiday activities and being with my family. Then the shock kind of hit. I began taking Cipro, Flagyl, Entocort, Pentasa, Aciphex.

I was just finally starting to feel better!! (aka no pain!!) When I got another bummer of news. I just switched insurance companies and my new insurance company will not cover ANYTHING with my Crohns until April 1st. Sweet, they won't cover doctors appts, prescriptions, etc. This may not be soo bad to all of you, but really I'm graduating from college in March, $500 for a month of Entocort is not going to fly.

So I'm sad to say that I now have to stop seeking treatment until my insurance picks it up, or I can afford it. Any suggestions on this??? I called my doc today to see if there was anything he could do. We'll see what he says.

So far 90% of the days I'm fine with living with this dumb disease but I think reality is starting to set in that I have to deal with this everyday forever. Great! So many days I just wish I didn't feel sick and didn't have to deal with this! I'm sure many of you have felt this way too. Thanks in advance for the support!

Nikki
 
Hi Nikki and welcome.
Sorry to hear about all your troubles. Insurances can indeed be an
added pain to deal with. I've been through too many battles with them to count.
Sorry to hear you got the crohn's diagnosis, but hopefully you will find this
forum useful! :)
 
Hi Nikki! Welcome and glad you found us. As Mike said, if you had no lapse in coverage, then the new insurance should waive the waiting period. But you will need to get a certificate of credible coverage from the old carrier, otherwise, the new carrier will not budge. The new insurance will base the waiting period usually on the length of coverage of your previous insurance company(s). Sometimes they will waive the waiting period and sometimes they will shorten the length of the waiting period. So, if you've had continuous coverage, even if through several companies get those certificates of coverage.
Good luck and I hope this helps, so you can continue your treatment.
 
Hi Nikki and welcome to the Forum!

I hope you get the medical insurance problem straightened out..
if there is a snag talk about it with your doctor...
if it's just for a short period of time perhaps he/she can help you out
with samples etc.

Wishing you all the best...
please let us know what happens...

Once again....welcome! :)
Nancy
 
Hey all!!

Thanks for the info on insurance companies. I'll explain the situation some more to help the understanding. Like I said I'm a college student and have been on my parents insurance until Dec. 31st. However their insurance dropped me Dec. 31st due to my age, so I had to find an alternative insurance carrier. I could have stayed with my parents BUT we would have had to pay out of pocket for their plan and it was wayyy too expensive. The best option was for me to pick up my University's comprehensive student health insurance. In it's plan description it reiterates it's pre-existing condition about four times.

I called my Drs. office yesterday and they are going to try and call the insurance company and get a pre-authorization for my entocort and other prescrips.

I will definately call and check into the continuous coverage thing.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Hey Nikki! Pretty much all insurances have a pre-existing clause, but if you can get that certificate of credible coverage then your waiting period should be waived or cut down considerably. Did you have a lapse in coverage from the time your parents insurance dropped you and the time you got coverage through your school? I have been in charge of insurance and billing for an Urgent Care facility for the past 4yrs, so I'm pretty familiar with insurances. So if I can help you or give you any useful information, let me know.
Good luck!
 
hey dayng1016, thanks for the info. No I didn't have any lapse in coverage. My parents insurance ended Dec. 31st. My student health insurance started Jan. 1.

So should I call my current insurance and ask that my pre-existing condition clause be cut down or eliminated since I have had no lapse in coverage? Will I need something proving my previous condition?
 
The only thing you should need is the certificate of credible coverage. Once you have that, then call your current insurance and let them know. You will have to mail or fax them the coverage info before they will waive any waiting period. Sometimes it can take a couple of days to make a decision, but definitely once they have that then I would "bug" them until they make their decision.
 
J

jamil

Guest
hi nikki

sorry to hear about your suitation ,
ive had crohns now for 4years with load of complications dont wanna go into to much detail, anyway the last 3months have been better so i decided to read up on this disease and others similar , i know im know expert but i do belive crohns and colitis is curable i do not belive the doctors at all when they say its not curable.gods created this disease so for sure hes created a cure its just finding it , look at it like this you was okay before you started feeling ill so be positive you can regain this good health, i really feel for you regarding funding but belive me this could be a blessing ,
after spendning months looking into what causes this illness all expert say a change in internal enviroment inflamtion etc , my belief is that we need to clear out all harmful parasites in our intestines colon lining etc , you may have came heard of the hookworm treatment ive read good thingson this subject with regards to ibd , phage theraphy only done in russia or poland at the moment this is like antibiotics but less harmful , have a read about them, one thing that willhelp you if not cure you is kefier(fermented milk) you can mae your own with no cost and it will keep on producing over and over , just a quick run down on kefier , this will kill of all bad bacteria/parasites in stomach and lining, it will relif symptons and restore strenght i am very hopeful this will help , i have been only taking kefier for appx 1 week only and has seen massive improvment kefier is works just like probotics but are 100s of time more stronger and only give you healthy probotics, try google for more info not sure there is much out there but if you needmore info let us know ,
ps
i had blood test done 2days before taking kefier and will have another in 4weeks time , it will be intresting to see how my blood results differ but so far i feel so so much better
 
Nikki Lynn said:
So I'm sad to say that I now have to stop seeking treatment until my insurance picks it up, or I can afford it. Any suggestions on this???
move to australia or england, all the meds are basically free!!!!!!!!! hurrayyyy!!!!!!!!

^just been silly^

hope you get this situation sorted out Nikki, really feel bad for americans and their health care system.

welcome to the forums

:DJed:D
 
Sorry to hear about the insurance crap!! That's ridiculous!! I agree...if there was no lapse, you should still be covered...I hate American Health Insurance companies...I'm lucky enough to live in Canada...cheap health care, good benefits packages at work. Otherwise, I don't know how I could do it!
 
Hi Nikki and welcome to the forum.

Does your GI not have (I call them sample drugs) most of those
meds in his/her office?My Dr. is always giving me pentasa,nexium
questrum and sometimes VSL#3 when I visit him.
Prednisone is fairly cheap to buy and some painkillers are too depending
on what your GI prescribes to you.
I am sure you have mentioned to your GI your current situation.
I know this must be stressing you out.

Just ask and maybe he can help.

Goodluck
 
Hi nikki

If you find it impossible to get medical help, maybe you can try some natural ways and see if it helps. Some reccomendations:

- Try the SCD diet. It is hard but maybe worth sticking to. Here is a link to a site that will help you start

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

- Take Omega 3 fish oil capsules

- Take a multivitamin

- Drink Green tea and Camomille

Hope this helps. Good Luck
 
Welcome to the forum. I hope you sort out your medical insurance issues before April. That seems way too long to go without treatment. Hopefully your doctor can get you some samples like others have said.
 
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