WARFARIN & MRMIP am I doomed ? ? ? ! ! !

[rossfailure]

My Health Insurance is through Blue Cross via MRMIP.
It is so expensive now.
I pay $366 a month!
I assume the only reason I have to go through MRMIP is that I am taking WARFARIN daily.
Does anyone now if that is true?
I would love to be able to get on a lower cost plan.
I am in perfect health.
Am I doomed to be on MRMIP for the rest of my life because of my taking WARFARIN?
If anyone knows of other oprions please inform me ! ! !
Thank you !
[email protected]

 

[hensylee]

well, we can't call you Ross (cause we already have Ross, our moderator) and we surely can't call you Failure - how bout RF?

Welcome to VR. I can't answer your question, but this has been discussed on the board in the past and others will be along soon to help out. You have come to the right place to get input from others who are in your same situation. We always are happy to greet a new member - Ann

 

[Ross]

Maybe I'm just tired but what is MRMIP?

Your insurance rates may be high because you may be considered to have a heart condition, not because you take Warfarin.

The sad thing is that everyone is paying high premiums regardless of impairments, but we heart folks do pay more.

 

[Nancy]

Hi-

And welcome to this terrific site. Was wondering what type of valve you have now. Your name seems to indicate you had a Ross procedure which failed and possibly you received a mechanical the second time around, right?

If you have a mechanical valve, you will have to be on Coumadin for as long as you have a mechanical valve. Many, many people on this board are on Coumadin, including my husband who has been on it for 26 years.

What does MRMIP mean?

 

[Harpoon]

What's MRMIP?

Hold on, I'll try looking it up on Google....

Ah.... Why didn't I think of that before?

Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, it's a Californian thing, they do things weird, like hire former bodybuilders to be governor and chase police chases around with helicopters that have camera operators hanging out the window....


Did you know Schwarzenegger has a heart condition???

So anyways, I guess it's a government funded insurance program for individuals deemed to be "high risk" patients that probably can't get medical insurance through other means... I guess.


All I can says on the medical coverage is that I don't have prescription, dental, or eyecare.

All I have is basic care and hospitalization (which I used most extensively this past year) and I have co-pays for just about everyhting except bloodwork and vaccines, though Ido have a co-pay for the doctor's visit to GET the vaccine....

I pay out of pocket for all my meds, about $120 a month (it went down because I went off the amiodarone which was setting me back $53 a month.)

You may want to investigate some other form of insurance, or at least some means of supplimenting what you have with a seperate prescription plan or possibly asking for scrips in "bulk" from your doctor. You pay less per pill if you buy a few months supply rather than monthly.

Down side of that though is you pay a LOT more money up front, and if your meds change, you're stuck with what you've got. I only get some of mine in bulk, like the coumadin which I know I'll always be taking. Other meds, like amiodarone, are only intended to be used for a short length of time so I get them monthly. Others might have changes in dosage and one, amoxicillin, I only take when I see the dentist, it doesn't make much sense to have 20 pills if I only need 4 for one visit every six months, the rest becomes ineffective.

Ask your doctors about your prescription plans. Tell them how much it's costing you and see if they have any suggestions (they probably will have some.) I was on lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor, for several months then got switched to diovan because of the cough lisinopril causes. The diovan was $40 a month or so, lisinopril was $9.00.

I'm back on the lisinopril and I have the cough, but I manage it just fine with an occassional cough drop, small beverage, or piece of chewing gum.

Spicy foods work nicely too, I'm known to pop slices jalapeno peppers straight from the jar...

 

[rossfailure]

thanks for responses.
i had a ross procedure in february of 1999 and it lasted six months.
the pulmonary valve ended up rupturing a leaflet.
it was then replaced by a st. jude mechanical.
i am doing fine with no problems since.

MRMIP is a california state program that basically mandates that major health insurance providers must provide a plan for people who are considered to be a "high risk".

the three major companies in california, blue cross, blue shield & kaiser, all have plans that satisfy the MRMIP requirements.

the premiums for these plans are higher than your average individual plan.

when i spoke to a blue cross rep they basically said just because i am on warfarin i am deemed a high risk and therefore can only qualify for the MRMIP program.

i am wondering what other peoples experiences are and how, if at all, their heart situations affect their insurance policies.

i pay $366 right now and when the MRMIP expires (it is only a 36 month long program) i will probably have to pay even more.

i am interested in hearing what all of you are paying for your insurance.

thanks!

 

[rossfailure]

btw harpoon:

i am aware that schwarzenegger had a ross procedure.

as a matter of fact we have the same surgeon: dr. vaughn starnes @ usc medical center.

 

[Christina]

Dear RF,

My husband and I are insured through PacifiCare and I are paying $1043.00 a month. Of that the state pays $260.00 because my husband was an AZ state employee before he retired in 1998. We are left to pay $798.43 a month. That does not include co-pays for doctors and co-pays for medicine. Thank God I can get a 3-month supply of Coumadin and am saving a little money there. We are certain the premiums will go up again this July, but what can you do? We need insurance.
We can't afford NOT to have insurance.

 

[Harpoon]

rossfailure:

Oohh, neato! =)


I will admit though, I'm not quite sure what the 'ross proceedure" is... I don't remember what Arnold's condition was, just that he had one.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Is it only Texas that has the law that if you or your spouse work for a company with 50 or more employees, you are entitled to the same insurance as all other employees at the same rates? We pay about $180 a month for family coverage. When we first got married, my husband was in school and I was working for a Plastic Surgery practice. I had always been on my parent's insurance and didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to get coverage. The only plan that I could get was for catastrophic coverage and charged $1000 a month and had a maximum payout of $10,000 per hospitalization. Needless to say, we couldn't afford it. The doctor that I worked for assured me that he would take care of me if I needed to be hospitalized. Luckily, I didn't have to test his generosity, but figured I could always file bankruptcy if necessary. In Texas, that gets you out of medical bills, although I'm not sure it's the same in all states. Luckily, I was only without coverage for about a year. That was 1988-1989 and I know that the law has changed regarding insurance for those of us who are high risk, but those rates are ridiculous.