Anyone here have any left over heparin, saline and dressing changes or know where i can get them for very cheap?
My damn insurance will only cover the IV doxy and picc line placement. Then they are making me pay for a nurse once a week and Iv supplies.
My drs office quoted the price for IV supplies at 15 dollars per day and the nurse in 90 per week.
I have medicare. Anyone else had any luck with getting this stuff covered?
Thanks, Joe
Posted by barbarame (Member # 16423) on :
Hi,
Sorry to hear about the insurance. We will probably be paying privately soon too.
My family has learned to change the dressing ourselves. We buy the supplies for 4. 50.
Sadly, I am trying to remember where. Yes, IMED.com
Can you get out to get the blood drawn?
There was someone recently trying to get rid of the supplies to maybe last week or so. I will look to. #14128 the ID.
If you google, PICC line dressing change you will get companies.
I can send you the PDF that I have on how to do it.
barb
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
Joe,
Medicare part A and B? part B (hospitalization) should cover your home health nurse, it covered mine.
It did not cover IV supplies though, my BCBS covered those at 30%.
Call and check on the home health nurse. If you didn't have a nurse coming to the home, you would be hospitalized.....think they cover it!!!
Feelfit
Posted by jocus20 (Member # 11576) on :
Thanks for your replies.
Yes i have medicare part a and part b. I spoke with someone today and they said it wasnt covered and my drs office said the same thing.
Im not sure if they make me have a nurse or if i can just get someone i know to do it and not pay.
I have to figure that out.
Posted by Alexis (Member # 9656) on :
It is a shame that they charge so much to buy supplies bundled. We went to dr that charged like $80 per day! You can get then much cheaper ala carte. Unfortunately takes more work...
What do you need for one day's treament? How often are you getting the dressing changed?
We found saline and heparine available at through a pharmacy. (not a chain) I had to call around to find it.
Seems like the heparine was not much more than a dollar a day and saline cheaper. It is salt and water. Hello.
You might need a prescription for the heperine, but not saline.
Walmart has alcohol wipes. Medical supply outfits usually provide "packages" through insurance, but we found a couple that would sell us supplies and the IV abx.(some abx cost less than $100 per dose) These companies had not sold directly to consumers previously, but were willing to do it.
When our insurance quit paying for the nurse visits, we cut a deal with the nurse to come privately. I think we paid $50 for her to change dressings for two of us each visit. I think we could have found someone to do it cheaper, but we were too tired to pursue.
Hope this helps.
Posted by herbalfrog (Member # 12711) on :
I am on medicare/BCBS and had in-home care. Like others have said, I ended up with about a $1500 bill at the end. I now have my doctor write the order for a local hospital infusion department and even though I have to drive down to the hospital every day for the length of the infusion therapy, ALL is covered. I don't know if my BCBS picks up part of the secondary insurance or that all is paid for by Medicare. You may want to check this out