What is Cobra? How can I get help?

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AndrewIrish

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I'm posting like a fiend today and for that, I apologize...

Not even certain what forum to post this in 'cuz I only ever talk about epilepsy in 'The Kitchen' so if it needs to be moved then I fully understand....

Uhmmm.. just started the new job... I don't qualify for medical insurance until my 90th day... but what is Cobra? I've heard of people taking that insurance BETWEEN jobs and it's supposedly good? (I've had medical insurance for about 2 months in my whole life... 'bout long enough to be diagnosed with E and then left in the cold...)

Also, I know a hospital was helping me by referring me to a 'sports medicine' doctor(closes thing my hospital knew of to a neurologist in Indiana) and saw him a couple times last year on the promise my State Medicaid application would come through and pay(it didn't so he 'fired me' as a patient, 'cuz I couldn't pay at the time.)

Anyone ever gone to a doctor and said, Hey, I get insurance in a couple months, can you help a brotha out? Maybe not in so many words, lol.

I've called the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and they worked with me for hours to get me to the hospital in Indiana that sent me to a sports medecine guy who fired me... no clinics or anything in Indiana... and I can't see anyone in Cincinnati,OH which is much better 'cuz of my address... so I gave up a long time ago, but if I'm gonna be able to work, I'm gonna need some meds. I can't have jerks and 'tiny tonic clonics' and migraines like this and continue working - it's just way, way too stressful. If I have to, I'll just seize out everyday at work until I get insurance hopefullly but... now that I officially having a job, seeing if that helps my chances at all of getting help in INDIANA. Indiana is like an empty, desolate wasteland and I have jumped through MANY, MANY hoops, trying to find help.

Ya'' are my last shot - to see if someone knows about getting medical care that I don't know about or can tell me something about now having a job which helps me get medical care.

I just desperately want a doctor and I envy all of you who have one.
 
over the last five years, I've been given several emds for E. Lamictal made me feel funny and faint, Reg Depakote(somehow different), didn't do anything and pure 1000mg valproaic acid gave me the worst 'orange flavored' heartburn of my life, constantly and gave me headaches. Was prescribed ativan as a 'rescue' for my jerks, even though I told the sports guy I needed a longer-lasting tranq like Klonopin and he wouldn't prescribe it.

I've researched my condition enough to diagnose my own damn self and prescribe my own medecines - I wish we could do that. I need a cocktail of Klonopin(keep my brain nice and low and cohesive throughout the day and slow my jerks down), Valproaic Acid(I was prescribed it only after TELLING my doctor the 'sports medecine' guy in Indiana - TO prescribe me it and shoved him some google web pages...

Those two drugs would help my life so, so much. I don't buy street drugs on principle but I'm about to start looking for and buying Klonopin(it's a benzo so kids get high on it), on the street, just so I can help myself.

Is there a black market on epilepsy meds?
 
I've had COBRA before. When I got divorced. It is to continue group health care coverage either between jobs or from a divorce or something like that. So if you had group health care from an employer (or spouse's employer) and lost your job, your spouse lost his/her job, or you lost your spouse, you can keep the same coverage (more or less) for up to 18 months (I think), but you have to pay for it - I paid over $500 per month and that was just me - the kids went on his. Luckily, I got another job in less than a year and got on that insurance within a month of getting the job. Since I never lost group health care, I never had a "pre existing condition" and was able to be covered for all health care issues before the switch in insurance. If you go without health care for more than a certain amount of time the insurance company can tell you that for 6 months or a year they wont pay for your illness (or longer). Certain changes in the health care laws are supposed to rectify that. This is all information for the US though. I don't know if it applies elsewhere.
 
Andrew,

Sorry about your situation. I know there a lot of folks in similar situations, but here are some patient assistant programs:

Together RX --(800) 444-4106
www.togetherrxaccess.com

Partnership for Prescription Assistance-- (888)- 477-2669
www.pparx.org

RX Hope-- (877)267-0517
www.rxhope

NeedyMeds
www.needymeds.org

Or this website provides information on how to get affordable or free meds: www.rxassist.com

I've looked into a lot of the 'prescrip assistance' stuff before and it mostly says, 'give us the doctor's prescription' that shows you need the meds, to get them.

Well, if I had access to a doctor, I wouldn't really need help with the meds - they're fairly cheap. I could maybe show some of these places a prescription that's about a year to year and a half old (last time I had prescribed meds), from a doctor who fired me for not paying him - but that's about it.

I mean - I need an active prescription to actually get these drugs at a pharmacy I believe - if I had a prescription, I'd have no qualms. So I mean, I'm kind of in between a rock and a hard place. Cheapest GP I can find wants to charge me like 125 bucks a visit and how am I supposed to convince a doctor I have epilepsy and he needs to give me drugs for it at a GP on the very first visit? Seeing a Neurologist is so astoundingly expensive I can't even see them once and in the boonies of Indiana, I don't even think there's an Epileptologist anywhere remotely even close - half the GP's I've talked to in this area barely even knew what an Epileptologist was...
 
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I did find this so hopefully I can get some help...

http://www.needymeds.org/free_clinics.taf?_function=list&state=in

On Edit: Perhaps NM - I live in Lawrenceburg, IN essentially - and doing a quick Control-F search, there's no clinics in any city I recognize near to me in the area. I'll have to pull out a map and see where the closest might be...

Ok, I found one prospects for clinics which are about.... 45 minutes away.... next closest is prolly an hour and a half drive away!

Here's to hoping the Clinic for Crazy People might help me!

Community Mental Health Center
315 Industrial Access Rd
Rising Sun IN 47040
812-438-2711
Web Site Accepts: Uninsured, Underinsured, Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid
Income: All income levels accepted
Fees: Sliding scale of fees based on income
Languages Spoken: English Services: Substance Abuse/Addiction Services, Counseling/Mental Health Services
Hours: Call for hours
Service Area: Rising Sun Area

Oh, great - here's the services they offer:

Substance Abuse/Addiction Services, Counseling/Mental Health Services

No Medical Services offered. Hey, wasn't epilepsy considered a mental illness in decades back! Maybe that'll work!

Or I can say I'm going completely insane at this country's inability to help those in need.

So there's absolutely no clinics within reasonable reach of me that I can go to in this shitty corner of Indiana - I have MUCH better chances about half an hour away in Cincinnati - I might just commit a wee bit of fraud and use my old address in Ohio(which is still on my valid Ohio Driver's license) as a place of residence so I can be seen in Ohio. I can't think of anything else to do. If I go to jail or get fined or audited because I tried to seek medical attention, to hell with it.

Thoughts on that strategy? Hamilton County Ohio DOES have free clinics which pick up 100% of your bills if you can get into em' - although last time I DID try this strategy, I was told all free/scale-sliding clinics were booked up in Cincinnati for a year and I'd be on a waiting list.

Or hell, I have a disposable paycheck coming up and I can possibly come up with like $150 bucks to see a doctor - I could prolly see a GP one time, for that much - anyone know off hand what a REALLY cheap Neurologist visit costs out of pocket? But even that, I had problems finding Neurologists willing to accept a cash-payment plan so I'd need to stay under about a $150 cap so I can just sit down with the damn doctor, have no tests done, maybe trying and invoke some myoclonic jerks and beg him to keep my old prescriptions going... in a few months, I can purchase my work's incredibly and prohibitively expensive medical insurance - maybe if I can just get ONE script good for at least a few months, I can get away with ONE visit to a doctor in cash and tell him, 'I hope to be back in 3 months, when I have my work's insurance...' - Anyone ever try that out?
 
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For us, a first consult with a Pediatric Neurologist was $400, and $200 for follow-up. We didn't see a GP first -- just contacted the Neurologist for a direct appointment. Sometimes insurance companies require a referral, but you can make an appointment with a neurologist without having to see a GP first.

Our first consult with an Epileptologist was $1000, and $600 for follow-up.

That's in the U.S. -- and you're right -- it would be far too expensive without insurance. However, I believe most doctors would give a lower rate for patients without insurance. But maybe not low enough for folks on limited means.

Here in Thailand, we pay about $30 (about $60 for initial consult) to see a Pediatric Neurologist at a private hospital (who is trained in the States and licensed to practice in California), or we can see the very same doctor at the government hospital for free (but no appointments made there -- just have to show up and wait to be seen). Thailand has socialized medicine.

Some folks have found it cheaper to do "medical tourism" trips to Thailand to get treatment -- a roundtrip air ticket is about $1500 from the East Coast, than to pay for expensive private insurance (or even employer insurance) that doesn't cover very well.

One problem you may run into when you purchase your employers' insurance (if you are not currently covered by a plan) is that your epilepsy may be considered a "pre-existing" condition -- in which case, they may not cover treatment for a certain block of time (sucks, huh?).

Here in Thailand, some epilepsy meds can be bought at a pharmacy without prescription (such as Keppra and Topomax). However, none of the benzodiazepine drugs (such as Klonopin) can be purchased except at a hospital with a prescription. I'm not sure about Valproic Acid (Depakote) as we only purchased that in the U.S. Our son is currently on Zonegran, and that is only available through the hospital, but I think it's mostly because it's a fairly new med.

Since you're currently unable to get (or afford) the meds you need, why don't you try some of the non-medical approaches to seizure control? Such as the MAD (Modified Atkins) or the low glycemic diet?
 
Some links to info on diets that are helpful for seizure control:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f39/modified-atkins-20476/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...et-drug-resistant-childhood-epilepsies-19673/
(link above is mostly for kids, but there's a couple studies for adults linked)
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f22/juvenile-myoclonic-epilepsy-mad-adults-19721/

Bernard has a thread/post somewhere on different diets, and I can't find it right now -- maybe you can help out here Bernard??

I recommend just taking out sugar, gluten and MSG and see what that does.


This is Bernard's chart of non-prescription treatments
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...rescription-aed-drug-treatments-epilepsy-710/
 
Doctors won't tell you till it's probably too late.

Ask them about somatic non-epileptic seizures.

There are a tons of foods to avoid. Red seaweeds, other things, mostly processed foods, so start eating well.

Marijuana helps a little yet it does not fully heal the body.

The valproic acids help, but they are extremely hard on the body.
 
I Londoner.What got to do go White heart lane Saturday afternoon shout top voice you love the Gooners,You get such reception you never forget unless you go to Highbury then shout you love Spurs again a uniqu experience
 
Couple of things, Andrew. Cobra is very expensive. Do you have Health Dept. where you are? They can be very helpful. Have you tried to get ObamaCare. They CAN not refuse you due to pre-existing condition.
Good Luck!
M
 
Thank god I got NHS...I read these stories so often about insurance and medial treatment in States. Worse than third world county.
I reading on the other thread about hoeson paste maybe read that it could be helpfull
 
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