Staying Frugal with medical issues?

[TinyFish]

Disney, if you can 'fix', my arthritis in ANY amount of visits I'd go and see you, even if you did think it was self-inflicted! Never heard from anyone that it was either a) curable or b) that I brought it on myself, unless perhaps this is some kind of divine punishment for a past life or something! Funny coincidence that so many of the females in my family must have been bad people in their past lives! While I'm there can you cure my nerve deafness too? I'm told hearing aids cost 2,500 each and are not covered at all by insurance! Eeeeek! Just yanking your chain!

Another money-saving idea for chronic illnesses: if you have a flex plan at work you can have money deducted from your paycheck, then when you have the medical bills you claim it back, tax-free. Of course you have to be careful or you end up with too much at the end of the year and it is 'use it or lose it'.

Keeping up on your insurance is important. If you don't have coverage, even for a day (say when you switch jobs) you may not be covered.

Ask your Dr for samples of your medications, especially if the Dr plans to try you on several different drugs until they find the one that helps.

Hope this helps!

-TinyFish (whose 1 medication costs 3 grand a month)

[getforfree]

Are you suggesting that patients should only come for a problem that can be resolved in one visit?

Not necessary in one visit, buy it has to have at least some improvements from the first visit.

I don't have any health insurance right now. Neither DH, only kids do. We are still young and dont' have any medical issues. Even when we had free medical, we hardly ever went to the doctor.

I only went when I needed the piece of paper that says that I am pregnant to qualify for wic. And I also went because of my pregnancies. With the first pregnancy, because I was stupid enough to listen to everything the doctor says, I ended up having c-section. With the second pregnancy, I didn't go to the doctor until it was about 2 weeks before due date. And I am glad I didn't go before that. All those appoinments are too much stress. And the last thing a pregnant person needs is stress. They were very unhappy that I didn't come before, yea, they lost lots of easy money. They insisted that I would have c-section again. I refused. They would say that my baby will be sick and disabled and all that if I don't have it again. What a liars! They had me to sign so many papers that I refuse to have c-section, just so they would save their ass. I made it with support of my friends. My baby is perfectly healthy. And I really happy I didn't listen to the doctors. It helps sometimes to be rude and tell them shut up. I still hate them. I didn't even go to my 6-week check up. It's no use to me anyways.

I haven't been to the doctor since my DD's birth almost 2 yrs ago. Dh doens't even remember when was the last time he went. Kids go for shots and check ups. We all healthy. If you want to be healthy, stay away from the doctors. And ask a 100 friends and even strangers before following any of the doctors advice. Don't trust them! I burned my butt on that. And I will never trust a doctor that could possibly make any money on me following this advice.

[getforfree]

Many diseases are caused by stress. Stress leads to over eating, then to overweight, then to all kinds of heart problems, diabeties and who knows what. And when you are stressed, you are not likely to do exersise and even move.

Many desiases are caused because what we eat. Too much sugar causes arthritus. Not enought calcium causes it too. That's why we splurge on milk. My kids drink as much milk as they want. I don't give them candy. The special treat is the same milk in a baby bottle.

I brestfed both of my kids, and they are healthy. My youngest never even had a cold.

Genetics play a major role too. I have diabeties from my dad's side, and astma and heart disease from my mom's side. According to genetics, I should be dead by now. But I am trying to not to be overweight and not eat anything that has lots of sugar in it. So, I hope it never happens to me.

Are there any other natural prevention for deseases? Like making sure you eat enought of some kind of food to prevent some desease, or do some kind of exersise? My family is still healthy and I want to keep it that way.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by getforfree

With the second pregnancy, I didn't go to the doctor until it was about 2 weeks before due date. And I am glad I didn't go before that. All those appoinments are too much stress.

I didn't even go to my 6-week check up. It's no use to me anyways.

If you want to be healthy, stay away from the doctors.

Let me just say that I'll end this conversation here. If you think prenatal care is a waste of time and a post-delivery checkup is unneccesary, I'm not going to try and change your mind.

I wish you good health.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by TinyFish

Disney, if you can 'fix', my arthritis in ANY amount of visits I'd go and see you, even if you did think it was self-inflicted!

That's why I put "fix" in quotes. No, unfortunately we can't cure arthritis, but we can often help relieve some of the suffering. But we can't do it in one visit. It takes some trial and error of different meds and therapies to find the one that works best, however good that may be.

[Fern]

Getforfree, you sure seem to have some extreme views about medicine. Would you like us to return to somewhere around the 1700s when we didn't have the benefit of modern medicine? I shudder to think about it.

There are many diseases that just happen to you becus you have the misfortune to be the one to get it, and no amount of stress-freel living, diet and good genes is going to protect you from everything. That's why we have preventative checkups, to catch things before they blossom into full-blown disease.

You can probably get away with your mindset if you are young now and with sheer good luck, but i think you'll really be hurting yourself if you continue to act in this vein in your middle years and beyond.

I am not a doctor, but i do have a chronic, lifelong disease.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by Fern

Getforfree, you sure seem to have some extreme views about medicine.

I agree and I think it's quite unfortunate. I really hope people reading these boards recognize it as such and don't take the viewpoints expressed as advice or get any ideas about emulating.

Oftentimes when people defy medical advice they think they were "right" because nothing happened. What's more likely is that they were lucky.

Just like anything, there are good doctors and bad doctors. Of course people need to be good consumers and stay vigilant for people who try to take advantage. But routine medical care and pre-natal care are certainly NOT a waste of money. I can't imagine what kind of ignorance would make someone suggest otherwise.

Preventative care saves lives. For example, I'm awfully glad a mammogram caught my mom's breast cancer at stage II instead of at stage IV. It sure made a huge difference in her quality of life and chances for survival.

[getforfree]

I understand people need to go to the doctors, but the doctors shouldn't look at their patients as moneybags, but as people who need help and understanding. And a lot of doctors are trying to take advantage of people just to make more $$. I have seen it many times on many different people.

Todays medicine has lots of advantages, and it helps in many cases, but the patients should not blindly trust their doctors. As of prenatal care, it might be not a waste for most people, but it was in my case. It gave me nothing good but stress. I was better off with less of it the second time. Blindly trusting a doctor might not only cause you to spend more, but also can damage your health. I am not saying the healthcare is completely bad and doesn't have any benefits, but don't trust them.

[budgetmom]

Originally Posted by lisasayzhi

I no longer have health insurance, and am getting worried because before my mom dropped me from their insurance I got 3 months worth of Kariva (birth control pills). I'm almost out, and I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's not for birth control, it's for extreme menstrual cramps and heavy, long periods. I tried going off of it almost a year ago, because I've been on it since I was 13, and I was curious if my symptoms would be any better now that I'm older... well they weren't, they were horrible! I heard it's possible to get birth control for free, but I don't know where I could get it from. I'm in college, and I don't know if the health center would give them out, because they sell it. Any ideas?

O.k. first of all I have to say this. Have you been fully examined for your cramps and heavy bleeding? I had this same problem (and still do actually) when I started my period. The doctors just kept telling me that some women just bleed more, blah blah blah... I was even told that becase I was such a heavy bleeder it would be unlikely for me to have children. I would miss classes and later work because of cramping. After I had my first child the pain got worse and after 10 months of the doctors saying that it was just my body recovering from having a baby I finally got my insurance to approve a referal to a specialist. Turns out I have endometriosis. Unfortunately, my case is pretty severe, not responding to surgery or lupron injections. My only alternative is removing my female parts at this point. I am not a doctor, and I am not saying that you have this problem too, but it has been my experience as well as many other womens (I have discovered) that this is not being looked at closely enough by their doctors. Please look in to this as a possibility with your doctor.
Also, have you tried going to a local "free" clinic in your area? They often work on a sliding scale and sometimes have samples on hand of birth control. Or, try a planned parenthood office. Birth control is always less expensive there.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

Oftentimes when people defy medical advice they think they were "right" because nothing happened. What's more likely is that they were lucky.

Very true. Saying prenatal care was a waste because the baby turned out okay is like saying that paying life insurance premiums is a waste if you don't die.

There are a zillion things that could go wrong during pregnancy, many of which wouldn't be picked up until it was too late if nobody was monitoring mother and fetus. BP could be high. Gestational diabetes could occur. Fetal abnormalities could exist, etc.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

The neonatal intensive care units are full of babies born prematurely whose birth could could been delayed for the better health of both mom and baby if the mother gotten timely prenatal care. And it costs us (rarely is it the parents of the baby who directly pay) huge amounts of money to take care of those babies. It would have been much cheaper if we had just taken care of the mom's pregnancy. Many premature births in this country would have been preventable with medical care. For example, a simple infection that would have cleared with a visit to the OBGYN and a run of antibiotics can turn into a premature birth with very low birth weight, underdeveloped lungs, weeks in intensive care, many jabs with needles, dependency on artifical ventilation, artificial nutrients, etc. Life in ICU is not pretty for a little baby, nor can we count on it having a good outcome. Prenatal care is so much gentler, cheaper, and easier.

[shengmei]

Supplements generally go 75% off when they are within 6 months of an expiration date.

They lose potency if they are expired, but even through they lose potency, the degraded product of expiration does not hurt the human body.

For me I can always buy supplements 75% off and be able to finish it within 6 months.


Even if they lose half of their potency, I still think it is a good deal because I am paying 1/4 of the price for 1/2 the potency.

[LuxLiving]

lisasayzhi - does your area have a local health department that you could go to?

[Ima saver]

Well after reading this, all I can say is I have been lucky. The few doctors I have seen in my life have been very compassionate.

[shengmei]

My father is a doctor. I grew up in an apartment attached to the hospital (my father was an emergency surgeon so we had to live right next to the hospital)

Over the years I have seen plenty of excellent and bad doctors. What I notice is not that doctors are bad, but that the very very few bad apples are in the position of authority and they can do tremendous amounts of damage. The good can do tremendous amounts of good.

Doctors are people, too. I just don't tend to trust the "experts" as much as normal people. They can also make mistakes just like everybody esle.

[Fern]

I think, as with all things in life, you just have to use a little common sense when dealing with your doctors. It's not really a good idea to just leave it all up to them and go blithely on your way, assuming 'they'll take care of it."

Each of us has the ultimate responsibility to take care of their own health. Ask informed questions, be prepared before you go in for a visit and do your own research online. Most insurance companies will pay for a 2nd opinion. If you have a doctor that seems overly preoccupied with fees, then find a different doctor.

[Frugal Father (tm)]

Has anyone applied for and gotten ss disability benefits? What did you go through to get them? I am going to make an attempt, my respitory problems have gotten so bad I feel I have a shot. Any info or stories?

[getforfree]

I know a few people who are on a disability. Here in CA, you can get $839/month + free medical. I think, they just filled out the application at the SS office, I am not sure. Some clinics even provide a free transportation for those people.

[aurielle]

Originally Posted by Frugal Father (tm)

Has anyone applied for and gotten ss disability benefits? What did you go through to get them? I am going to make an attempt, my respitory problems have gotten so bad I feel I have a shot. Any info or stories?

Be prepared to be denied at least one time, and probably several times. Document, document, document. Keep a journal of your activities of daily living - how your medical condition(s) affect your quality of life.

If you keep getting denied for SS, you may want a lawyer. It won't cost you up front, they get paid a portion of your retroactive SS. It may take you a few years to get approved so be prepared.

[aurielle]

A very good friend of ours was also our personal physician up until recently (he accepted a job as a hospitalist). He is kind enough to answer simple questions outside of the office. He's a good doctor, he listened and provided explanations so we understood what our current medical issue was when we saw him in the office.

It also came in really handy a couple years ago when DH woke up with a severely abcessed tooth on a Saturday morning. He was in terrible pain so we called our friend Doc J and told him what was happening. He said come right over and I'll give you a Z-pack until you can get in to see your dentist. DH told him to go ahead and bill our insurance, we were grateful for his help but he wouldn't hear of it.