RE: Re: Health Insurance and Transplants

January 11, 2009

My children have double coverage...primary insurance from their father and secondary from my husband and myself. This is costly, but was worth it when Todd went through transplant. I never would have thought we needed all that, but Todd met his 1 million lifetime limit after his second transplant., and at that time the secondary insurance kicked in. Everyone is different...if you have a lot of complications, procedures and lots of hospital stays before transplant then the transplant (or 2 if needed) can push you over that limit. Hospital and healthcare costs continue to rise and $1 million doesn't go as far as it used to. When it came time to renew our policy I chose the policy with no lifetime maximum. It is very costly for our small business, but with Todd's recurrent PSC/AIH overlap, transplant complications and possibly another transplant in the future I chose to play it safe at least for the time being. He graduates from college in May and then who knows what kind of insurance he will have available to him.

Together in the fight, Whatever it takes!

Joanne (mom of Todd, 22, psc 01, crohns 02, tx twice 03, rPSC 05, diabetes 06, AIH overlap 08, recovering from C Diff and doing his best to live life to the fullest 09)

January 11, 2009

My children have double coverage...primary insurance from their father and secondary from my husband and myself. This is costly, but was worth it when Todd went through transplant. I never would have thought we needed all that, but Todd met his 1 million lifetime limit after his second transplant., and at that time the secondary insurance kicked in. Everyone is different...if you have a lot of complications, procedures and lots of hospital stays before transplant then the transplant (or 2 if needed) can push you over that limit. Hospital and healthcare costs continue to rise and $1 million doesn't go as far as it used to. When it came time to renew our policy I chose the policy with no lifetime maximum. It is very costly for our small business, but with Todd's recurrent PSC/AIH overlap, transplant complications and possibly another transplant in the future I chose to play it safe at least for the time being. He graduates from college in May and then who knows what kind of insurance he will have available to him.

Together in the fight, Whatever it takes!

Joanne (mom of Todd, 22, psc 01, crohns 02, tx twice 03, rPSC 05, diabetes 06, AIH overlap 08, recovering from C Diff and doing his best to live life to the fullest 09)

January 11, 2009

My children have double coverage...primary insurance from their father and secondary from my husband and myself. This is costly, but was worth it when Todd went through transplant. I never would have thought we needed all that, but Todd met his 1 million lifetime limit after his second transplant., and at that time the secondary insurance kicked in. Everyone is different...if you have a lot of complications, procedures and lots of hospital stays before transplant then the transplant (or 2 if needed) can push you over that limit. Hospital and healthcare costs continue to rise and $1 million doesn't go as far as it used to. When it came time to renew our policy I chose the policy with no lifetime maximum. It is very costly for our small business, but with Todd's recurrent PSC/AIH overlap, transplant complications and possibly another transplant in the future I chose to play it safe at least for the time being. He graduates from college in May and then who knows what kind of insurance he will have available to him.

Together in the fight, Whatever it takes!

Joanne (mom of Todd, 22, psc 01, crohns 02, tx twice 03, rPSC 05, diabetes 06, AIH overlap 08, recovering from C Diff and doing his best to live life to the fullest 09)

January 11, 2009

3. Yes, our policy covers 'donor charges' which includes getting the liver to my transplant center from a potentially long distance, which may thereby use a medi-vac or ambulance or something.>>>

When I started receiving copies of billings after my tx I noticed that the cost for retrieval of the liver was $50,000. The team didn't need to travel out of town for this liver but had traveled to retrieve a liver which was meant for me but was ultimately decided it was fatty and not suitable for tx. The tx surgeons bill was $16,000 and the total just for tx and the days in the hospital came to about $250,000.

Blessings,

Barby - KS

January 11, 2009

3. Yes, our policy covers 'donor charges' which includes getting the liver to my transplant center from a potentially long distance, which may thereby use a medi-vac or ambulance or something.>>>

When I started receiving copies of billings after my tx I noticed that the cost for retrieval of the liver was $50,000. The team didn't need to travel out of town for this liver but had traveled to retrieve a liver which was meant for me but was ultimately decided it was fatty and not suitable for tx. The tx surgeons bill was $16,000 and the total just for tx and the days in the hospital came to about $250,000.

Blessings,

Barby - KS

January 11, 2009

3. Yes, our policy covers 'donor charges' which includes getting the liver to my transplant center from a potentially long distance, which may thereby use a medi-vac or ambulance or something.>>>

When I started receiving copies of billings after my tx I noticed that the cost for retrieval of the liver was $50,000. The team didn't need to travel out of town for this liver but had traveled to retrieve a liver which was meant for me but was ultimately decided it was fatty and not suitable for tx. The tx surgeons bill was $16,000 and the total just for tx and the days in the hospital came to about $250,000.

Blessings,

Barby - KS

January 11, 2009

I was under the impression that air ambulance services were for

the patient and I didn’t think about transportation of the donor liver

and will have to research this more. It was my understanding that the air

ambulance service would pick up the patient and prep them for the surgery in

route to the their transplant center. Thinking about this now, I

realize this probably isn’t what the covered service is intended for, but

it was a nice thought. If I were to choose Mayo in ville for

example as my transplant center and live in Michigan this is a 20 hour car ride

vs. a 3 hour jet trip. J What a special (and expensive) jet

trip that would be.

This raises a whole new set of questions regarding proximity to

a transplant center while waiting to receive one. Obviously, it is

not a good option to be 20 hours away.

Rick

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf

Of Barby

Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2009 4:40 PM

To:

Subject: Re: Re: Health Insurance and Transplants

3. Yes, our policy covers 'donor charges' which includes

getting the

liver to my transplant center from a potentially long distance, which

may thereby use a medi-vac or ambulance or something.>>>

When I started receiving copies of billings after my tx I

noticed that the cost for retrieval of the liver was $50,000. The

team didn't need to travel out of town for this liver but had traveled to

retrieve a liver which was meant for me but was ultimately decided it was

fatty and not suitable for tx. The tx surgeons bill was

$16,000 and the total just for tx and the days in the hospital came to about

$250,000.

Blessings,

Barby - KS

January 11, 2009