Diabetes Costs And Medical Insurance?
I currently don’t have insurance(I did up until I got laid off in July), but I should hopefully get benefits in 5 months with my new job. It was expensive to keep the insurance that I had through work. Right before my insurance was cut off my doctor told me I should get tested for diabetes. Now I’m wondering if I should wait until I get health insurance again or if it’s better for me to just go to the doctor and pay for it out of pocket. I won’t qualify for any low-income medical care.
How much does it cost monthly for medicine, testing supplies, and doctor visits? How often do you go to the doctor?
It would be great to hear from people with and without insurance. If you have insurance if it’s HMO or PPO.
What are the chances that if I paid for insurance now that the company would cancel it as soon as they found out if I had diabetes?
Thanks for any help anyone can give.
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Tags : Costs, Diabetes, Insurance, Medical
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December 24, 2009 9:16 am | #1DEFINITELY get tested!!! Uncontrolled diabetes is dangerous! I assume your Dr believes you have type 2 (non insulin dependent) diabetes. If that is the case your Dr can probably get you a free glucometer for testing. A place calles Lifeline in Swansea, MA sells test strips – any kind – for $35 a bottle and two bottles can last a month. If you have type 2 you may not need medication but only your Dr will know that. If you do need meds it will take some time to figure out the right type and dose. Often docs will give samples until the final dose is decided.
December 24, 2009 9:25 am | #2GOOD LUCK AND GET TESTED!!!
I was just diagnosed on 9/9/07. I do not have insurance, and I am finding out that this is pretty expensive. The test strips are 95$ for 100 strips at 4 tests per day.. plus more if you feel like you are extra low or high. There are may programs to help, however. I got samples for my insulin from my physician.. they are 93$ per vial, and I use 2 different kinds.
December 24, 2009 9:31 am | #3No amount of money at this point is worth sacrificing my health, however. If I had it to do all over, I would still want to know.. even without insurance. There is help available.
You should check with your county health dept. I am type 1 and have been diabetic for 17 years, 12 of those years without insurance. Depending on where you live the county health dept. may offer programs for people with chronic illness such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease etc. A lot of them charge on a sliding scale of your income so it’s not necessarily low-income programs. I have paid out of pocket, did the sliding scale programs and currently have insurance. I take injections and test regularly. Average cost of a doctor’s visit just to talk about your health $50 ( I have lived in several states from the south, midwest and west coast ). Lab work, because they will order some, $300-500. Insulin cost range depending on type: cheapest $20/p vial up to $50 (humalog). Cost of machine for testing varies because you can buy one on sale cheap with in store rebates all the time but the testing strips can run as high as $100 for 50 strips. Not to mention syringes $30 for 100. And if you are diagnosed it is recommended to see your doctor every 3 months. So it is very expensive without insurance which is why I think there is no cure. Too much money to be made by treating the disease although a lot of pharmaceutical companies are offering programs to uninsured persons offering assistance to receive their medicines. Even with insurance it’s not cheap. Currently I take 2 types of insulin, 8 week supply $50. co-pay for Dr. $15, I take 2 preventative medicines for my kidneys and cholesterol ( recommended if you’ve been a diabetic for a while ) $35 p/month. I have PPO which I prefer. If you choose to get insurance and find out you’re diabetic they can not drop you unless you knew it was a pre-existing condition which you don’t know yet. Unless you are feeling terrible I would wait until you get insurance because just the cost of lab work out of pocket can make anyone not want to know if they’re diabetic or not. Good Luck!
December 24, 2009 10:12 am | #4