hi,
i am in nc , usa . i want to tie myself with the best insurance company here . since i am planning to get an insulin pump here . i want a insurance company that will help me to get one with very minimum charges or at free of cost … i am new to this , pls help me out …
will the insurance company approve me pump immediately after the doctors advice .
guide me with one which can get me . pls .
all insurance companies are different. The best ones that I’ve found for diabetes care is Blue Cross / Blue Shield and also Aetna.
Pumps do not come easy (see your other discussion thread started today for more information) but it is possible to get one in a short amount of time.
Do you currently see an endocronologist?
Can you get insurance through your place of employment?
no yet to see a endocronologist and no i am not working at present to get insurance through my place of employment .
If you don’t join through employment, your insurance company will likely not pay for any expenses related to diabetes for 1 year because your diabetes will be a pre-existing condition. Also, insurance might be quite expensive given that you have type 1 diabetes. Have you asked for prices of insurance?
In America, the health insurance system is very much biased towards the people employed by mid and larger companies. If you work for a small company or heaven forbid are self employed or on your own health insurance is very expensive. Should you seek insurance on your own, you will likely find that as Kristen notes you have to wait a year for coverage, not just on a pump, but everything. On the other side, get a job with a fairly good sized employer and you can get insurance from the start. As a diabetic, when you look for work, that whole health insurance thing can sometimes be as important as your starting salary.
i dont mind insurance being expensive . when compared to the price of the pump the price of the insurance will cost less . thats why i am planning to get a insulin pump through an insurance company . no yet to ask for the prices .
Well don’t be shocked if you go to buy health insurance as an individual in the US and find you are quoted $2500/month. At the end of that first year, when you finally qualify for a pump, you may not think the insurance was such a cheap option. That is why it is so important to try to get good insurance through your place of employment in the US.
dear friend i am just a tourist to U.S and will be back to INDIA in a couple of months . As i am staying in US for a long period i am planning to get a insulin pump here . paying $2000 for 2 months is not a huge amount when compared to the cost of the pump and accessories . approx. pump could be costing $7000 , doctors visit , medication , drugs would cost you more than $10000 . so insurance will workout in this case . thats why i am in search for a good insurance company which can cover my cost .
But you must understand my dear friend, unless you get insurance through your employment, you won’t get coverage for any diabetes related things for a year. You will need to pay your insurance premium every month for a year. During that year, the insurance company will NOT cover your diabetes. No test strips, no insulin and certainly no pump. That is the problem. I doubt insurance will be of any help to you in this situation. And besides, how are you going maintain yourself with pump supplies in India? You do realize that things like infusion sets which need to be disposed of on a regular basis are a big cost of pumping. Sorry to be so negative.
MEDTRONICS has its branches all over India . I also have a supplier in our area who can supply me the infusion sets , CGM’s and all accessories regularly and thats why i am planning to go in for a MEDTRONIC pump . . Is there any insurance which can cover pre-existing conditions for a amount of $10000 . . i think travel insurance will do this .
My insurance didn’t pay anywhere near that much for my pump or D care… I actually ended up paying more out of pocket for my pump and supplies last year when I got my Ping than they did. It would have been no different had I gone with Minimed.
ALL American insurance plans are different, but depending on your co-pays and deductible, you could end up shelling out more than your insurance company does. If it wasn’t for my relatively good RX coverage, I’d end up paying more out of pocket than my insurance picks up. When my currently supply runs out, I will be paying for pump supplies out of pocket because my deductible is $2500… if all I were paying for were pump supplies, I probably wound’t hit that much in a year. That’s what they want - to NOT have to pay anything.
Our insurance plan costs my husband’s employer something like $1800 a month to insure our family… thankfully they pay all of that for us, or we probably couldn’t afford to have insurance. Sometimes I think we’d be saving money if we just got that $1800 and were free to spend it on what we needed.
No, unfortunately the travel insurances will not cover pre-existing conditions in the USA. I have searched for this for a LONG time. There are some travel insurances that cover it, but they do not cover it in the USA.
You are probably better off seeing if you can get a pump in India. Ask them if they have any sales or discounts.
oh … ya i will do that … thanks for the effort …
ya even my friends told me the same …
United Health Insurance has been convering the continuous glucose monitors that go with the insulin pump for a few years now. You may be denied and have to appeal, as we did, but that is rare with United. I think United is the best as far as coverage of the continuous monitoring systems is concerned. Of course they cover insulin pumps and supplies and test strips for the glucometer.