I just got a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts saying they want to enroll me in their Blue Care*Connection Program, working with Healthways, Inc. to provide "chronic disease management support to physicians and their patients."
Deal or No Deal??
Anybody know the scoop on this? Carol B
Posted by bigmamma (Member # 7181) on :
If I had a choice I would say no. This is called care management and it is all about them wanting to keep their costs down and is not always in your best interest. I know someone who was in this for an asthmatic and she found out that the BCBS management people were calling her healthcare provider and making suggestions for more "cost effective" medications, but they weren't necessarily clinically effective for her. I don't want any insurance company more involved in my treatment. They already control too much.
Just my 2 cents.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Disease management programs won't work well for somebody with Lyme. They really only work for maintenance conditions, like Diabetes or High Blood Pressure, where people need to be encouraged to take medication to prevent complications.
If it is an optional/voluntary program, just say that you are not interested.
My insurance company wanted me to enroll in their program. Turned out it wasn't the Lyme diagnosis, but a lower back pain code had been put down on a form. There are certain diagnosis codes that flag the programs.
Posted by lymemomtooo (Member # 5396) on :
Hey Webbie, I have no great answer but putting my 2 cents in anyway.
My daughter was in one for diabetes. It was great. She had a nurse that checked in with her once a month and even sent machines to help with her reporting.
But then she refused to talk to the nurse. NOt the nurse's fault. She was a great gal.
Also while we were in the program, it kept the deductable down.
Anytime we had a medicine issue, where they wanted to use a different one, if we had a valid reason to not change, we were able to keep the one in use.
I do not know how this would work for Lyme disease however.
And it would also depend on the company and the nurse. Good luck . Lymemomtooo