Multiple Sclerosis: Changing Jobs or Insurance
- Saturday, August 8, 2009, 10:13
- Multiple Sclerosis
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- Dick:
- Let’s go to an e-mail question from Steve in Alaska. He has recently changed insurance companies, and they are expecting different things and maybe have different requirements. [The insurance company doesn’t] want to provide the same coverage he has had. You’re going through this situation, too, Elizabeth, with the change of jobs. How would you respond to Steve if he is changing jobs like yourself or just changing insurance companies?
- Elizabeth:
- I actually looked into the insurance issues before I changed jobs, knowing how different companies view people with MS. And with the medical care and the cost, the injectable therapies, I actually looked at it before I made the decision to switch my job. By going through your local human resources department, you can get things changed on your policy sometimes. Sometimes it just hasn’t been an issue that affects the company that you work for, and because now that you’re employed there, they might want to look at that and that might be something they want to cover now.
- Dick:
- Is this an issue that has ever confronted you with any of your patients? Changing jobs, changing insurers?
- Jan:
- Oh, very much so. One of the big surprises is to find out that the new insurance company is questioning whether or not to cover [medications you are currently taking] unless there is an authorization. Get as much information as you can and then really work closely with your physician’s office because we really want people to maintain therapy and maintain adherence with their therapy. [Not being able to] get it because there is a lag time because of authorization or whatever from the insurance company can be very difficult and frustrating and even frightening for some patients.
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