Transplantmommy
New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>sweetie</b></i>
$10,000 dollars.....OMG!! Talk about Stress...how did you deal with that?? Why was it so much money??
Can I ask what you pay out-of-pocket for meds now? I can not have Medicare D or I would risk loosing my insurance coverage.
How does it also work for Medicare to be secondary? I am so worried that I will ruin my future hubby financial because of my problems. cindy</end quote></div>
Some of the money did come from kind of a benefit account. Money specifically for the transplant process but we also paid a lot out of pocket. It was so much money because of all of the hotel stays that we had, the money we had to spend on gas, the three medical flights that I had ($10,000 a piece of which the insurance only paid half for each), then all of the co-pays and co-insurance. There was also a psychiatry consult that the insurance would not pay for because they saw it as unneccesary (which unfortunatelt I agree because now I have to pay the $436 for it), and the microspirometer that I needed post transplants that the insurance wouldn't cover ($450). It really all adds up. All of these expenses were incurred BEFORE I got Medicare. I had the transplants 1/31/07 and I did not get Medicare until March this year.
I think right now, including the OTC that the insurance won't cover, we have spent about $1,000 on meds this year. I have got to the point where I have reached the out of pocket max for the year so the rest of my meds are going to be covered at 100% for the rest of the year (except for OTC meds).
So far with the Medicare being secondary, I don't think I've had to pay for anything. When I called Medicare to see if my hubby's or the Medicare was going to be primary, they said that Medicare would be secondary and would pretty much cover what the BCBS would not cover. They would pick up my co-insurance and my co-pays. They did say though, that they could refuse to pay for something just like BCBS could. So far, it has been pretty good and they have covered what they said that they would. I'm still pretty new to the Medicare, so we'll see.
I hope that all of this is helping you (and maybe some others too).
$10,000 dollars.....OMG!! Talk about Stress...how did you deal with that?? Why was it so much money??
Can I ask what you pay out-of-pocket for meds now? I can not have Medicare D or I would risk loosing my insurance coverage.
How does it also work for Medicare to be secondary? I am so worried that I will ruin my future hubby financial because of my problems. cindy</end quote></div>
Some of the money did come from kind of a benefit account. Money specifically for the transplant process but we also paid a lot out of pocket. It was so much money because of all of the hotel stays that we had, the money we had to spend on gas, the three medical flights that I had ($10,000 a piece of which the insurance only paid half for each), then all of the co-pays and co-insurance. There was also a psychiatry consult that the insurance would not pay for because they saw it as unneccesary (which unfortunatelt I agree because now I have to pay the $436 for it), and the microspirometer that I needed post transplants that the insurance wouldn't cover ($450). It really all adds up. All of these expenses were incurred BEFORE I got Medicare. I had the transplants 1/31/07 and I did not get Medicare until March this year.
I think right now, including the OTC that the insurance won't cover, we have spent about $1,000 on meds this year. I have got to the point where I have reached the out of pocket max for the year so the rest of my meds are going to be covered at 100% for the rest of the year (except for OTC meds).
So far with the Medicare being secondary, I don't think I've had to pay for anything. When I called Medicare to see if my hubby's or the Medicare was going to be primary, they said that Medicare would be secondary and would pretty much cover what the BCBS would not cover. They would pick up my co-insurance and my co-pays. They did say though, that they could refuse to pay for something just like BCBS could. So far, it has been pretty good and they have covered what they said that they would. I'm still pretty new to the Medicare, so we'll see.
I hope that all of this is helping you (and maybe some others too).