New redone poll !!!!
 

Thanks for all your help - I'm trying to do this poll with a bit more insightful questions - trying to find out how many of us are struggling to put our health insurances in order and what is working and what is not - November isn't all that far away !!

Very good poll!!!

Once I noticed/ticked my age, I thought I was good to go and hit "vote" :p. Can we pick more the one option though?

We don't have medicaid in Canada though anyway.

And I don't do/haven't done the CRABs . . .

The only thing I don't know is if I am falling between the cracks. :p

Cherie

We can pick more than one..
As far as falling between the cracks, I often feel as though I'M cracked..Does that count? :p

LOL we need another poll to do that! I think that is a good idea....

As part of the under 45 crowd (barely), I used to be on A, C, & R in that order. But I didn't tolerate the meds or side effects at all. I've been on Imuran for 5 of the 11 yrs (non-consecutive) since dx.

HTH
:hug:

Am I really the oldest Bat....er....lady here?..:eek:

Have I had MS the longest...44 yrs? :eek:

If not you must be very close Sally. 44 years diagnosed is a really long time!

I'm 56 and diagnosed for 31 years!

Actually, I've been formally DX for 33 yrs, but had my first MS SX 44 yrs ago.:)

AND...Polar, that was the only good pic of me, I could find...I was 61 or 62 and thinner, so I'm cheating a little, but thanks.

You ought to have some great tips to share then Sally!

I'm not falling through the cracks yet, but I had to reduce my work hours so I could be covered by my husband's insurance which he'll be able to keep after retirement. Mine would end when I left my work. The threat of no insurance is real and looms over all of us.

Actually SallyC - I am 64 in a week - diagnosed at 30 - so have had the dx and same neuro for 34 years - I kind of thought I might be the oldest on this forum - nice to know there's someone else !!!!

I'm in the under 45 crowd and crabby...umm...on a CRAB.

I'm pretty sure that I've had MS since at least 1997, but I can remember things from when I was younger (my tweens) that makes me really wonder if I've had MS longer than a decade.

I've pretty much accepted the MS diagnosis, but I do remember getting a tick bite when I was either 9 or 10yrs old, and am still suspicious about Lyme, even tho the notoriously inaccurate tests keep saying I'm negative for Lyme. (they do show a few bands, just not enough to satisfy the CDC that I meet the requirements for Lyme)

I was begining to think I was the only one up there.

Will be 65 in Aug. Dx with ms for 24yrs. But actually was having
problems for 40 yrs.

It might be fun to come up with different types of polls and find
out more different things.

Jappy "I AM STILL ONLY 39" :D

Well, this will be a big issue for me in November too.

I'm on SSDI/Medicare. Although it is a Godsend that I qualified, I am going broke. :eek: I live alone & my medical expenses have exceeded my income for the last three years. But on the bright side, I've gone through my retirement savings so I will soon be able to qualify for SS supplemental income. WooHoo!

My biggest fear is not getting sicker, I can handle that. It's losing my house & independence. :(

Wow...I'm not usually such a downer! Sorry. :o

Does TriCare count as "group insurance?" That was a tough question to answer, so I put yes. Also, I am in a clinical trial for Tovaxin so not falling through the cracks but trying to open a new option for those who want another option!

We had to cancel our company offered health insurance due to the high premium cost, but thankfully we had TriCare to fall back on. It has been great so far especially the rx coverage!

We are in the process of doing our taxes for last year and out of pocket just for my medications was over $3000 and that doesn't include the premium for the rx coverage!!! I cannot believe what we had to pay last year...no wonder our savings account is empty! :(

Needless to say I am very thankful for TriCare. ;)

I fit 6 of your criteria. I am younger than 45, on Medicare and Medicaid, have a prescription plan and receive assistance for that, I'm on C, and I fall in to the cracks. But, "I look so good" don't I? LOL.

This is a very interesting poll, KM.

I'm only 37. On Avonex. Get all my perscriptions through the VA.

My b-in-law just got out of the Air Force last year. My sister refers to TriCare as "Try To Get Care" sometimes. Apparently the area of the country where they moved, there's not many AF bases, and there arent many doctors who accept TriCare for some reason.

We have no military bases where we are and my husband has been retired since 1990. Idaho used to be one of the worst states for getting Tricare approved medical care but about 5 years ago things changed. That's what I used to call it too, but so far, so good. All of my doctors are TriCare approved but they don't accept assignment which means that I pay the difference, but it hasn't been that much. At least no where near the $1550 month premium we have been paying plus the out of pocket expenses for meds! So, I think in the long run, it's going to be a whole lot cheaper.

The TriCare website is great and all of the customer care reps on the phone have been wonderful.

I'm 49, on Tysabri and have a group plan through my husband's union membership. (Thank God!)

other information...
 

I'm curious about a few things -

Why are the CRABs the only DMDs listed as far as treatment options. I would have liked to have seen Tysabri, LDN, Chemo, or clinical trials also listed.

Also - I think the range of 45 and under is too broad. There are lots of "youngters" on here - some in twenties and early thirties - so a category of under 35 might be good and/or under 20.

And then, I wonder if there is any way to apply the data so that we could see what was happening in each age range -

ie:

group 65+older... X amount are on CRABs, Y have insurance, Z have medicaid...etc.

Does that make sense?

~Keri

Couldn't cover everything - wouldn't fit - need another poll to take the answers from this one and narrow the objectives -

Oops, I did it too quickly too; just checked my age category. I am 51; have group insurance (HMO), have been on betaseron (3 weeks), copaxone (4 1/2 months) and now tysabri. All of this has been covered 100%. I am having problems with getting my neuro to order a MRI after 6 months on tysabri. He says it is not necessary if I am doing well.

I have BC/BS PPO and pay a big pile of money each month with the cost of Tysabri, the infusion center and the insurance co-pay. I am 42 and fit into one of the slots listed in the poll.

-Vic

:wink:

I LOVE the 45-65 age span!

I guess that's most of athe Boomer group, mius a few at the top end.

Blessings,
PattiLee