I don't know if there's any help here you haven't checked into
http://www.tudiabetes.org/notes/Diabetes_Patient_Assistance_Resources
it's very well written, your letter.
Hey! Thanks for your response. How did you get on Medicaid? They say they are only for older people and type 2 supplies. Is that true? I didn't look into Medicaid too thoroughly because it seemed as not an option for me.
Thanks! I have the Apidra Solostar assistance card. They sent it to me for being a "loyal customer". I didnt even apply for it! Was strange. :) I need something to help me with Levemir. My Levemir scrip is going to cost almost $600 per month.
I found a program that might help me with my OneTouch Ultra strips which would cost me nearly $400 per month.
If I can get help paying for my scrips, then the whole insurance situation can go screw off.
thanks! I actually called my Endo and am waiting to hear back from him.
About 8 years ago, I was rationing insulin because I couldn't afford it and didn't have insurance. I was a mess, lost 10 lbs in 2 months, A1c jumped to 10%, I was super sick. The Endo I had at the time went into the office fridge and pulled out 4 vials of insulin (which was 4 months supply at the time) and handed them to me. She said pharma companies send samples to their office for them to push to their patients, but most of the time the stuff just gets thrown out. So... essentially, she saved my life by giving me her garbage. :) Amazing.
I'm hoping my current Endo has something similar to this happening in his office.
Medicaid will cover you in your state if you meet certain income requirements. HOWEVER, some states will cover a parent under SCHIP if the child is receiving CHIP coverage (CHIP being the state health insurance program for children, which every state has and has much more generous income requirements). I know the coverage of parents under SCHIP was called into question a few years ago, but some states are still doing it. If your child doesn't have insurance, she will be eligible for CHIP, and you may be eligible as well.
Also, a lot of people sell test strips on ebay. You have to check and make sure they aren't expired, but you can usually get them via ebay for about 50% less than you'd pay retail.
okay going to look at CHIP now. I think I already looked at it and they said my daughter would have to wait 2 months without insurance, which would put her in April... and I'd have to wait 6 months without insurance. I think that's the one who said that (linked through Charter Oak). But, I'll look into it right now to find out.
If you are willing to change meter brands try a Wavesense Presto at American Diabetes Whosale. If you buy 10 vials of 50 you get a nice discount. When changing meters be careful about your insulin dose. Since some meters read higher or lower than others your dose may change.
I've never even heard of that brand! I'll look into it. I'm not particular about meters. I've only had my current one for a year. thanks!
I just went down to the local medicaid office and applied. I had to prove my citizenship and income. But otherwise it was just filling out a few forms and a 5 minute interview. The amount of coverage you get is based on your income. Even if you have a full-time job you can still qualify. The only real drawback to using medicaid is that not everyone accepts it and one has to go to specific clinics and or hospitals (At least in TX they do).
The reason I use it is the cost of the strips. The last batch I got was $28.60/100 if I'm doing the math right. They have lots of deals if you buy in bulk including free shipping on orders over $100.
I would recommend trying it out first to see if it's going to work for you before ordering a lot of strips. On my very first post here I recommended this meter, a T1 member tried it and was constantly going low because apparently this meter read different than the one she was using. As a T2 this is not as much of an issue to me, in fact I like the fact that it reads higher than the one I was using before.
It's a no frills meter but it has software that you can use to download your readings to your computer. and print out nice reports I find very useful. There is a Wavesense user group here on TuD that you might want to look at. Here's a link to the company website if you wish to look into it further. The company makes other models the Keynote requires coding and the Jazz is a high end meter with expensive strips so that's why I use the Presto.
Hope this helps mitigate at least this part of your problem.
Marps,
Overall, I agree with bsc. You need to find the areas of the law/regulations that will support you. Otherwise, the Insurance Commissioner can only sympathize with your situation, but will be powerless to act.
With regard to this specific letter, I would group the similar themes together, starting with your most important issues first. At the end summarize what you said at the beginning and in the main body. Finally, spell and grammar check are paramount. For example, you are "insulin-dependent", not "dependant".
Finally, you might have to consider going back to work temporarily while you figure all this out. Sometimes we are forced into choosing the lesser of two evils.