How Do You Spell Frustration.....I.N.S.U.R.A.N.C.E

  Frustration.... such a little word but it carries so much meaning. Frustration, it is what I've felt for the past week, dealing with medical insurance renewal. Yes, it's that time of year again, choose a plan. If only it was that simple. 

  Having a rheumatic autoimmune disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, entails many doctors and many medicines. Therefore, I need an insurance plan that covers a majority of what or whom I need to fight this disease. It is no easy feat to find the "perfect" plan. There actually are no perfect plans available to me.

  I resort to finding the insurance plan that covers the specialty drugs I need. Luckily, that plan also has my primary general physician, my neurologist, and my opthamologist included as in-network doctors. The only doctor it lacks is my rheumatologist. Oh, and it also lacks coverage for the folic acid I need to take daily to combat the side effects of the chemotherapy drug. The chemo drug makes my hair fall out, unless I take the folic acid to replenish what it's strips from my body. 

  However, my specialty drug costs thousands of dollars a month, so I must choose a plan that covers it. Of course, without my rheumatologist being in-network I can only see her when I can pay for an appointment out of pocket. So I'll have to save $150 before my appointments. She sees me every three months. Figure that cost into my monthly plan premium, as well as, the cost of non-covered drugs. Then my reduced cost for insurance coverage doesn't look as enticing. 

  Please don't get me wrong, I am so thankful to even have insurance coverage. I wouldn't even have been diagnosed or have treatment if it wasn't for insurance. I will always be grateful, because I could be in a wheelchair by now, if I hadn't had coverage to get the help I needed. With that said, I do believe there should be a better system. In my area, I have one insurance company. It has multilevel plans I can choose from but the difference is only in amounts or costs.

  Why aren't there more insurance companies willing to commit to helping us? I suppose it's all a number game. If more companies would step back and look at the good they could do, perhaps the humanitarian aspect of helping a chronic ill patient would reap more benefits than the mighty dollar. 

  End of my rant......gentle hugs warriors!

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