Hey Bobber,
I love the idea of a road trip, though!! Let's go to Yosemite and Yellowstone, and soak in some medicinal natural hot springs! I had a visual of all of us RSD'ers being together on a bus, and understanding eachother's limitations and challenges as we cruise along the highway!! I love summer roadtrips!!! One of my favorites was driving up the coast to the San Juan Islands off Washington State and seeing the pods of orca whales in their beautiful natural habitat, swimming and living with graceful freedom....but I digress from the original topic..which indeed is of serious import....and on my mind constantly..
Hope4thebest :grouphug:
(just trying to lighten things up :grouphug: xoxoxoxoxox

My fmaily...

Swing by and pick me up!!!!:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::gro uphug:

Kathy

Can you pick up me and Lindsay on the way...there are a lot of hot springs here in Florida...I will take care of everyone! :)

:hug:Sandy

Hi Sandy, I am sorry to hear about your insurance dismissing the ketamine infusions. The lower dose infusions are now considered a treatment and is no longer experimental. I blue cross will pay for it, thats what I have as well as some of my friends and they pay every penny of it. I am not sure about other insurance companies whether they will pay for it or not, but I think they should as it is now approved by the FDA. I have been really lucky with my insurances both medicare and blue cross, without them we would be so broke by now. In all of just the past 2 years blue cross payed over 800,000 dollars in treatments, hospital stays, and air ambulances.

I hope by appealing it they will wake up and understand that this treatment could be the answer for a better life with less pain. What we told my insurance company was the ketamine infusions are cheap to getting SCS, and pump which costed me any where from 40,000 to 65,000 and it needs replacing like every five years. Then like me without the ketamine I am in hospitals sometimes lasting 3 weeks at a time which of course costs big time to, so giving me the ketamine keeps me from going in and out of hospitals and ER's. So in the long run it really is cheaper doing ketamine and helps so much better. I only wished I had done it sooner.

Do you have the dates yet for the infusions? I would love to meet you in person. I am having my surgery on the 29th and 30th of this month, but hopefully we will cross paths. I will be crossing my fingers that your insurance will take the appeal seriously and pay for the treatments.

Hugs!
Sam

Dear friend SandyRI
My apologies for the roadtrip detour. I am glad the last post from Sam was able to bring your thread back to its original, and intended topic...
Hope4thebest :hug: xoxox

Update??
 

My husband just landed a new job, and I will FINALLY have regular health ins again, praise God! This has been a long time coming. :) United Healthcare will be the ins co.

Ever since my CRPS went full body I have been wondering if Ketamine would help me. I don't know a lot about it but I am curious. I still have way more research to do on this. Looks like the last post on this thread was back in 2010. Does anyone know what UHC policy on this is now?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I hope this finds you all having a pain free, or at least a reduced pain level day!

I am going to be looking things up about insurance covering ketamine. I believe thats who the military tricare just went over to is United Health. I want to know what they will cover as far as my treatments. I don't want to have to fight this and insurance all at once. Its rotten that they don't want to cover a proven treatment. I wish you lots of luck in your fight with them. I am praying for all of us and so is my family. We understand what long term fights everyone with a chronic condition goes through. Keep smiling everyone and if yall do start a road trip to some hot springs stop in NM lol. I would love to go.:grouphug:

Yes, it is just asinine not to cover something that in the long run has the potential of saving everyone money. I mean never mind that some of us might get relief, because it's all about the money... right? I'm hoping that things have changed with UHC. I am also hoping that it's not a fight. We shall see. Thanks for the response hon!