Are you considering health care for those individuals who have chronic illnesses like ulcerstive colitis?
September 2nd, 2008 Posted in ibd-qa
Terri H asked:
My daughter has has chronic ulcerative colitis since she was 16 years old. She is now 25. No insurance will cover her because of the chronic condition. She has been in the hospital at lot initially and was covered by my insurance as a minor. As an adult right now she is covered as a disabled adult, but they will not cover her for her lifetime. She cannot get indep insurance. Once she is working full time she may be able to get it, but right now it is very much a stressor as she could be dropped at any point from my insurance. Please advocate for us and I will love to help. terri halverstadt
My daughter has has chronic ulcerative colitis since she was 16 years old. She is now 25. No insurance will cover her because of the chronic condition. She has been in the hospital at lot initially and was covered by my insurance as a minor. As an adult right now she is covered as a disabled adult, but they will not cover her for her lifetime. She cannot get indep insurance. Once she is working full time she may be able to get it, but right now it is very much a stressor as she could be dropped at any point from my insurance. Please advocate for us and I will love to help. terri halverstadt
Tags: Adult, Advocate, Chronic Condition, Chronic Illnesses, Full Time, Health Care, Insurance, Lifetime, Stressor
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 am
Due to the dramatic affect that health care services have on all of the inhabitants of the United States, the costs for each service needs to be regulated by our government. Every other industrialized country regulates their health care costs and so should we. If we continue down our present path, healthcare costs will soar without limitation.
In the United States, we pay, at the very least, 2x as much as any other industrialized country (http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/pr… and the only way for this to change is for the government to step in and regulate this vital service.
(ex. An MRI should not cost upwards of 4000 for a single use… But in actuality, they can charge as much as they want because it is not regulated.)
September 4th, 2008 at 2:29 am
I really don’t have any answer for you. I also suffer from uc, and have asked the same question. I am not sure how reliable the answer is, but I have been told that if you are beyond the first year of diagnosis make sure to write on the insurance form when your last flare up was. It is more expensive for any insurance company the 1st year after any diagnosis as that is usually when all the tests are being done. After the first year it shouldn’t be impossible to get insurance although more difficult than someone who doesn’t have a chronic condition.
I wish you and your daughter success with this and I truly feel for her situation. Sometimes it is hard to believe we live in such a wonderful and rich country that considers health care to be a privilege and not a right.