Posts
1833
Joined
10/5/2006
Location
New Braunfels, TX
US
Fellow Vital Members,
I searched the forum and didn't really find anything current. I'm considering a career move that would require me to source my own health insurance for me and my family. Searching reviews on-line is pointless as it seems that everyone hates their carrier and the system in general.
Does anyone in here have experience with this? Any help/advise is appreciated.
I searched the forum and didn't really find anything current. I'm considering a career move that would require me to source my own health insurance for me and my family. Searching reviews on-line is pointless as it seems that everyone hates their carrier and the system in general.
Does anyone in here have experience with this? Any help/advise is appreciated.
I've heard that ins options that aren't Obamacare compliant are much cheaper and there is no longer a penalty. Is that accurate?
Once when I worked in a dealership, the insurance guy came in and asked me if I participate in any organized motorcycle competition. I said I did- and he looked like I had just thrown cold water in his face. Later he called me up and said I was disqualified.
Unfortunately might be the best scenario for the time being..
The Shop
I went to a medical drop in centre and the very nice woman on the front desk was horrified by my predicament because she said that I could potentially end up paying $1000 + to get what I needed. From what I've heard about the healthcare system in the US I wasn't really surprised. I had a similar thing happen at the MXoN in Italy a few years ago, I went to a pharmacy there and bought a pack of 5 insulin pens over the counter for €60, no prescription, checks or anything. The woman who helped me out, who happened to be from France originally, disappeared for a few minutes came back with another woman who gave me a single boxed insulin pen which said surgery sample on the packaging, they wanted nothing for it and were just happy to help out, they both agreed that while the health service in the UK has its critics at least its not run by corporate business to make vast profits at the expense of the patient. I was very lucky to have dealt with good natured people.
I love the US but I don't think I could afford to live there with my condition.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Non-Moto,21/Health-insurance-for-self-em…
But yeah, without health insurance id be fucked.
The other thing is that insulin is only half of the equation. The supplies are the hidden profit center, and that’s mainly the glucose test strips. If you’re testing how you should be (4-8 times a day) then you are using between 120-240 test strips a day. You can use the cheapest meter/strip combo, or you can try to use the most accurate. Our experience over the last 20+ years is that those are mutually exclusive.
For consistently accurate readings, plan on about $350 a month for test strips, lancets, etc. The meters you can usually get for free because the strips are proprietary. The real profit is in the glucose test strips.
So let’s just say that you buy 6 vials of the OTC insulin at Walmart for $150
You get your test strips, lancets and other supplies like alcohol swabs for about $350.
$500 a month doesn’t sound terrible, right? Except you’ve forgotten one very important insulin, lantus. Lantus is the long acting, once a day “base” insulin that provides you with your basic buffer. You probably use 3 vials a month at about $350/vial for a total of $1050.
Syringes run around $50/month, give or take.
So even using the “old tech” insulin that makes blood glucose levels much harder to manage and maintain, it would still cost roughly $1600 a month for a Type 1 to (try to) manage their condition at a level less than optimal because of the older, not as useful alternative insulin.
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