6th month checkup

October 19th, 2008 · 6 Comments

I noticed someone found my blog by googling the cost of MS. I think we all know the cost of MS is huge. The question is were they asking about the cost in financial, emotional or physical terms. I decided I would show the cost of MS for the 6 months in a financial sense.

Here is the current toll for my prescriptions:

Date of Service	Drug Name	Prescription Cost	You Pay Out of Pocket
10/17/08	COPAXONE	2177.36	20
9/24/08	COPAXONE	2177.36	20
9/14/08	VITAMIND 50000	7.78	7.78
8/28/08	COPAXONE	2177.36	20
8/1/08	COPAXONE	1981.22	20
7/31/08	BACLOFENTAB10MG	25.38	10
7/10/08	COPAXONE	1981.22	20
6/16/08	COPAXONE	1981.22	20
Totals		12508.9	137.78

And my medical costs:

Date of Service	Total Charges Submitted	Service	Total Paid by Plan	You Pay Out of Pocket
09/04/08	72	Eye Doc	15.13	15
07/21/08	145.35	Neruo	69.08	15
06/26/08	4902	Spinal MRI	3803.64	0
06/23/08	173.3	Neuro	97.73	0
06/23/08	533.8	Neuro	337.29	15
06/06/08	557	Neuro-Ophth	384.24	15
05/23/08	70	Home Nurse	63	7
05/25/08	263.89	Home Nurse	237.5	26.39
05/21/08	138	Neuro-Ophth	81.44	15
05/20/08	2479	Brain MRI	2188.69	0
05/20/08	805	Neuro-Ophth	552.83	15
05/15/08	72	Eye Doc	15.13	15
05/15/08	139	Eye Doc	63.22	0
05/14/08	118	Eye Doc	28	15
Totals	10468.34		7936.92	153.39

So that is a total of $22,977.24 billed to my insurance and my insurance has paid $20,445.82 since May when I went blind in one eye. I have paid $291.17 out of pocket.

Quite a deal really (for me at least)….

Maybe this week I’ll write about the cost of MS in the other ways. Until then, I hope everyone has a good week.

Tags: Insurance · Newly Diagnosed · Treatment

6 responses so far ↓

1 Lisa Emrich // Oct 19, 2008 at 7:24 pm

Wow – amazing!!

Your expense has been only 1.5% of the insurance-allowed charge rates. I can hardly imagine what that is like.

[Reply]
nina reply on October 19th, 2008 7:30 pm
We could become domestic partners and I could share my insurance with you. Some how I think Tom might not like that though.

I am very lucky to have such a great insurance plan. I think it helps that all my coworkers are healthy.

[Reply]
2 Lisa Emrich // Oct 19, 2008 at 7:35 pm

The kinda sad part is that I am in a relationship which is quite serious. Lots of talk of marriage, children, etc. But also lots of fear and worry about economics.

He works for PriceWaterhouseCoopers which means really great insurance coverage. I could be set. But he’s “not yet ready” and there’s no way I’m going to insist over this one matter.

If I were on his insurance, we would both be much better off with the economic effect. I could earn as much as I wish and I wouldn’t have to spend nearly as much. Aaargh.

But that’s not what lasting relationships are made of. Sigh.

[Reply]
nina reply on October 19th, 2008 9:06 pm
My situation is kind of the opposite. Tom’s insurance sucks. I have offered to get married to put him on mine but I have demanded a ring and other things keep coming up that puts that on the back burner.

I also think having a back up insurance plan would be nice. Double insurance never hurt anyone.

Just wondering what your thoughts were on these comments from Ruby -

http://msgirl.org/2008/07/01/spinal-mri-reports-are-harder-to-read/

[Reply]
nina reply on October 19th, 2008 9:07 pm
Oh and thanks for the list… I am going through them now.

[Reply]
3 Abby // Oct 20, 2008 at 4:25 am

The cost is almost unbearable. I can’t believe the insurance companies haven’t just dropped us all! Im going to add you to my blog links. Take care!

[Reply]

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