I'm just waiting for this very machine. It was 399 which sounds a lot but considering I'm a "lifer" I know the peace of mind and the benefits of not many clinic appts are well worth the cost :o)

Karen xx

My health insurance reviewed the cost first and preapproved its purchase. My out of pocket cost with a traditional 80/20 plan was around $500.00 which included supplies for about six months. They quoted me a cost and later I found out it included those supplies. I have that EOB on the desk and will try to tell you exact. I went through Tapestry Medical...they did all the pre-auth work for me.

Jed, I bought the INRation 2 through QAS, and like Bethanne, the company did all the work for me even got the prescription from my Doctor, and pre approval from my insurance company. I am fortunate to have really good insurance and my out of pocket expense was like 65.00 is all but then with all the medical tests i have had over the past 4 months I had already met my catastrophic deductible and all i had left to meet was the 65.00. I have 6 months worth of supplies just like Beth Anne, and they sent me a DVD, instruction book and did an over the phone training with me. They even fax my doctor with the results. You can contact QAS at
www.qualityassuredservices.com

I also forgot to mention if your insurance doesn't have very good coverage, doesn't cover the monitor, or you have no insurance QAS with set up a payment plan for you at reasonable payments, and they even give discounts. I believe the total for my monitor and 6 months worth of supplies was a little under 3,000.00

Jed1,

Here is some general patient information regarding Home INR monitoring machines. Please keep in mind this is based on U.S. prices.

Also included in the newsletter is a list of companies who will assist patients in getting a INR monitoring machine:

http://www.stoptheclot.org/Newsletters/NATT_Winter_07_Newsletter_Final.pdf

I just got my good news that my insurance approved mine today!

I went through Tapestry
http://www.tapestrymedical.com/patient/

The total cost for the monitor and 12months of supplies was around $2500. My insurance is paying 90% w/ no deductible, so I will pay around $250.

Since my co-pay for each Coumadin Clinic visit is $25, this is well worth it.

I have had mine for about a year now -LOVE IT- my insurance company paid for ALL of it, and will continue to pay for testing supplies.
Blessings, Teri

Man am I glad i got my Monitor, It has already paid for itself as I am back to having to be tested once a week until my INR gets normal again. At $180.00 per lab test to have my blood tesyed at the lab it saves you big time especially if you are a Coumadin lifer. I think thats why insurance companies are so willing to help pay good for the.
Beecute I'm so tickled that yours got approved and you will be getting it soon. It is such a blessing and gives you such peace of mind when your feeling a bit off. And by the way my insurance company also pays for all my supplies i just call QAS when I'm down to about 4 - 6 test strips and they send me more.

We don't have such gracious insurance companies he is Aus. So will probably need to purchase my own if I want one.:(

that should of been - '...here in Aus' lol

I was approved for mine & attended a class on how to use it. They run about $2,000 but Kaiser has negotiated a deal of $750 which they cover + supplies for their members.

Grrrrr, I had a delivery this morning,got all psyched up ready to jab myself (needlephobe) opened the box to find the damn machine wasn't there! They'd sent test strips and a getting started booklet but the machine will be a few more days!! They should have just waited and sent it all together, not a happy bunny now!

Karen xx

I brought up self testing at the clinic today. I should mention this clinic is considered the best of its kind in the metro area, but they are very traditional. Right away, they recommended the CoaguCheck XS and gave me the number of the lab rep to talk to. However this clinic has no program for self-monitoring, so I would have to coordinate it through my GP or switch to the university clinic.
Obviously the clinic people want to keep the monthly visits coming, but also the lady at the clinic said they dealt with too many idiots. Some simply stopped setting appts once they had their INR. Some really did not do their testing. One lady got up to a self tested INR of 8.0 and dealt with it by taking more Coumadin.
Regardless, self-care is the way things are going just as diabetics went to self-monitoring. The clinic where I go will no longer be involved if I go self-monitor.
In USA, Medicare (the govt med program for seniors) now supports self monitoring. USA private insurance companies use Medicare as a bellwhether and are following suit. Therefore it may be likely that various national health programs may be getting on board soon, if it is not happening already.