LymeNet Flash: Insurance issue

LymeNet on Facebook

LymeNet on Twitter

Follow @LymeDiseaseNet

The Lyme Disease Network receives a commission from Amazon.com for each purchase originating from this site.

When purchasing from Amazon.com, please
click here first.

Thank you.

Dedicated to the Bachmann Family

LymeNet needs your help:
LymeNet 2020 fund drive

The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations.

»	LymeNet Flash » Questions and Discussion » General Support » Insurance issue - advice needed.

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Insurance issue - advice needed.

morkovka
Member
Member # 17874

posted

I've been seeing plenty of doctors during last 14 months(depression,fibromyalogy,hypothyroidism, etc.).

Finally i found out that it could be lyme disease.

I have another health issue which require twice an year expensive check up and few medications all the time,

and i can not afford to be terminated from my insurance now.

Thus i have really important questions and would appreciate any thoughts.

should i go just to my PCP for Western Blot test, does it make any sense at all if i even wouldn't be able to get any appropriate treatment there?

or it's better to look for llmd in the first place?

is it possible to have any problems with insurance after dx or they just don't like long term treatment?

i've seen under our skin movie, has something changed since then?

can i get some treatment from insurance at all?

sorry for so many questions, i'm new [Frown]

[ 29. October 2008, 12:40 AM: Message edited by: morkovka ]

Posts: 24 | From ny | Registered: Oct 2008 | IP: Logged |

just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129

posted

Find an LLMD to start with so they do the tests properly,,and get you treated.

otherwise they MAY want to do it again and they are too expensive the first time

Post who your insurance is with and other people MAY be able to help answer that one part!!

Also is it an in house plan or a company deal??

--------------------
just don

Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged |

morkovka
Member
Member # 17874

posted

just don,

my insurance is United Health Care (Medicate), Family plan,NY.

does anybody have experience with it?

has anybody been terminated from insurance because of the diagnose?

I just found out about Lyme, still hard to believe.

It is so many information on internet, i'm lost.

Please, any help.

Posts: 24 | From ny | Registered: Oct 2008 | IP: Logged |

bettyg
Unregistered

posted

check your profile for NYC names...

IP: Logged |

aklnwlf
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5960

posted

I agree with Just Don, go to an LLMD. Don't waste your time or money with a GP or PCP.

I haven't heard of anyone being dropped from their insurance because of a diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Insurance companies just vary on the policy of treatment for it.

And welcome Morkovka, glad you found us here at Lymenet!

[hi]

--------------------
Do not take this as medical advice. This comment is based on opinion and personal experience only.

Alaska Lone Wolf

Posts: 6918 | From Columbus, GA | Registered: Jul 2004 | IP: Logged |

morkovka
Member
Member # 17874

posted

it's not the best place to be welcomed, isn' it. [shake]

anyway tanks [hi]

yesterday i was in pcp office and asked for western blot.

they told me it's lab's business , not mine which test they do so i don't need to be worried.

if there is something then any test will show it.

Posts: 24 | From ny | Registered: Oct 2008 | IP: Logged |

Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673

posted

-

No, it won't. You will need to see a special doctor. Some labs will not do the right tests, they don't even have the equipment.

Sorry this is so hard. It is very complex, but please work through the maze below so that you can get the help you need.

======

http://tinyurl.com/2dmvs2

From the May 2007 issue of Clinical Advisor (home page: www.clinicaladvisor.com )

CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO FUEL THE "LYME WAR"
By Virginia Savely, RN, FNP-C

*****

As two medical societies battle over its diagnosis and treatment, Lyme disease remains a frequently missed illness. Here is how to spot and treat it.

Excerpts:

" . . .To treat Lyme disease for a comparable number of life cycles, treatment would need to last 30 weeks. . . ."

`` . . .Patients with Lyme disease almost always have negative results on standard blood screening tests and have no remarkable findings on physical exam, so they are frequently referred to mental-health professionals for evaluation.

"...If all cases were detected and treated in the early stages of Lyme disease, the debate over the diagnosis and treatment of late-stage disease would not be an issue, and devastating rheumatologic, neurologic, and cardiac complications could be avoided..."

. . . * Clinicians do not realize that the CDC has gone on record as saying the commercial Lyme tests are designed for epidemiologic rather than diagnostic purposes, and a diagnosis should be based on clinical presentation rather than serologic results.

- FULL ARTICLE AT LINK ABOVE.

Co-infections (other tick-borne infections or TBD - tick-borne disease) are not discussed in the Savely article due to space limits. Still, any LLMD you would see would know how to assess/treat if others are present.

==========================

AFTER reading the Savely article above this will make more sense and, sadly, shows the state of treatment:

www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?a=2795&q=414284

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Press Release

Attorney General's Investigation Reveals Flawed Lyme Disease Guideline Process, IDSA Agrees To Reassess Guidelines, Install Independent Arbiter

May 1, 2008

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced that his antitrust investigation has uncovered serious flaws in the Infectious Diseases Society of America's (IDSA) process for writing its 2006 Lyme disease guidelines and the IDSA has agreed to reassess them with the assistance of an outside arbiter.

- cont'd at link.

Printable version: www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?a=2795&q=414284&pp=12&n=1

===============
===============

TESTING

You should also be evaluated for coinfections. Not all tests are great in that regard, either, but a good LLMD can evaluate you and then guide you in testing. One of the top labs is:

www.igenex.com

IGENEX

-----

Fry Labs also is said to be good for certain tests.

===========

www.ilads.org

ILADS

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) provides a forum for health science professionals to share their wealth of knowledge regarding the management of Lyme and associated diseases.

- 2/3 down the page, you can download Guidelines for the management of Lyme disease

=====================

www.lymediseaseassociation.org

Lyme Disease Association

=====================

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=029917

treepatrol's - Topic: Newbie Learning Help Links 5/21/08

=======

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=069262

Topic: BettyG's NEWBIE PACKAGE, 7.19.08, with TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ALL!

======
======

Find your local SUPPORT GROUP for help in finding a doctor, etc.

www.lymenet.org/SupportGroups/UnitedStates

======
======

Post in: SEEKING A DOCTOR

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=2

======

This book, by an ILADS member LLMD, hold great information about pharmaceutical and complementary treatments:

http://tinyurl.com/6lq3pb (through Amazon)

THE LYME DISEASE SOLUTION (2008)

- by Kenneth B. Singleton , MD; James A. Duke. Ph.D. (Foreword)

You can read more about it here and see customer reviews.

Web site: www.lymedoctor.com

======================

http://tinyurl.com/5crsjv

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic (2008) - by Pamela Weintraub

This details what an entire family went through. Having this knowledge of their journey will help others to get better, faster treatment.

==========================

http://tinyurl.com/653cum

Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Disorders, 2nd Edition - by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner (2003)

You can search inside the book and read customer reviews.

====================

When you do get a proper test from an educated doctor, this will help:

Dr C of MO's Western Blot explanation:

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=042077

-

Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007 | IP: Logged |

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:

The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey
907 Pebble Creek Court, Pennington, NJ 08534 USA
http://www.lymenet.org/