Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Insurance Woes

Health Care is an issue that all of us are frustrated with. That's where we (hubby and me) are at with my son's insurance.

I don't wish on ANY parent, that they need to put their child into a detox/recovery center. It's astronomically expensive! The cost of "detox" that I was quoted was between $15-20K for a 30-day program.

Thankfully, my husband has a good insurance policy through his job. B stopped going to college, so the cost of his insurance soared from $130.00 a month, to $374.00 a month. We (husband, ex-husband and I) agreed that we needed to keep him on his insurance. He is a Type-1 diabetic, and we didn't want to leave him uninsured.

It's a good thing that we did, because Blue Shield has agreed to pay for his detox-- but therein lies the problem.

  • Blue Shield considers "detox" to be finished as soon as B is off his meds. He was given meds for five days. Therefore, Blue Shield crossed their arms and said "no" to paying for another day.
  • Thankfully, the medical center has good people. "Chuck" found a clause in that B could get more time (covered by Blue Shield) if there is a risk to either the pancreas or the liver. Bingo! B is a diabetic. He has until this Tuesday, April 15th that has been approved.
  • "Chuck" will try to get 7 more days approved from Blue Shield. However, he says it's 50/50 that he can get this done.
  • It's frustrating that Blue Shield thinks 5 days is enough detox to come off opiate addition. It isn't. B has been off meds for six days, and he is struggling with side effects-- vomiting, insomnia, diarrhea and nervousness. I have been told that it takes an average of 3 months for his brain to begin to settle down from oxy-contin.
The share of expense for B's stay at this medical center will cost about $130.00 a day. How that will be paid is being prayed about. I can't worry about it, because B needed medical intervention -- and not a moment too soon.

Stay tuned-- I won't have an answer until this Tuesday, at the latest.

"Mom"