Welcome my Dear,
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and Cared for Here!!!!

Welcome, I am sorry this happened to you. I know how it goes with no insurance or inadequate coverage so I feel for you.. That itself causes anxiety. There are a lot of really nice people with a wealth of information here so feel free to ask all you want. Take care

Welcome Vinny!
You are in a tough spot. What does your doc suggest for you now?

Hi Vinny. I am new here too. I have had afib for a long time, and I know that managing your lifestyle can be a low cost-high yield approach to helping control this stuff. This doesn't mean you give up everything, but be sensible about less than healthy choices. Watch your stimulant intake i.e. caffeine, alchohol, nicotine and decongestants when you have a cold. Maintain an exercise level you are comfortable with, and try and stick to it. Keep up with all your hobbies and activities, don't let this get you down. Watch what you eat, and try to keep balanced electrolyte levels. I am not saying this actually works to keep Afib away, but at least it gives me a feeling of be active in trying to control it. And I don't have to make a payment to the Dr to do any of this. Hope this helps a little.

Warfarin is cheap. Pradaxa (I'm on) and Xarelto (Rivaroxiban) cost more but are easier to take. (all anticoagulants).

Bystolic for rate control isn't that expensive. My opinion is that rate control is the conservative, cheap, risk free way to go for asymptomatic afibbers.

My Cousin Vinny is one of my favorite movies. Did you get your law degree from Newark Community College or night school?

Welcome Vinny. I think you will get alot out of this support group. There are so many caring and knowledgeable people here who share their experiences and offer opinions and advice. I fall into the under-insured category. I have a high deductible medical plan because I am self employed, so my actual Afib treatment, doctor visits and tests are self pay. One thing I have learned when you are a self pay, the prices are negotiable. I shop around and comparison price things such as Echocardiograms and I inform doctors, up front, that I would like to set up a payment account since I am a self pay. These accounts are not charged interest and the doctors offices were very agreeable to payment amounts that I requested. I also ask my doctor for samples of medications, especially for newer medicines which can be expensive. I was on Plavix for 6 months and also on Pradaxa for a short time on different occasion. These medications are very expensive ($250 for 30 day supply). Each month, I would call and ask if the doctor's office had any samples. Sometimes they would have enough samples for me. It is sometimes hard to ask for things, but I decided to not let pride stand in the way of doing what is best for me. Take care and I hope find the info and the support you are looking for.

About negotiating... health plans aren't charged what uninsured people pay. For example, I have Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal. If a doctor's visit is $100, the health plan has a negotiated rate of something like $40. I pay a $10 copay and the health plan pays $30. You have that much negotiation room. Probablt, half of the bill is a possibility. If you are talking about a hospital, $1000 is a more realistic range and the savings are 10X (the negotiated rate could be $400). peteycap

BTW, I only pay $30 for Pradaxa because I have a health plan. Pradaxa has a savings card on their website that you can get if you qualify that guarantees the price (medicare age or you have a health plan).

and..... they over bill when you're insured. I just caught wind that the hospital charged my insurance company for things I never received. One of them was morphine. WHAT? I am ALLERGIC to morphine, and why would they give me morphine if I'm in for afib? I'm going to be calling the hospital today to get a detailed bill and I'm going to go over it with a fine tooth comb. This will only save my insurance company money, not me.. but if more people did this, our rates might be lower.

Regarding Pradaxa- Their program will give a self pay (no prescription insurance) patient a one time 30-days supply for free. I called the number for Pradaxa and they sent me a saving card to take to the pharmacy to pick up my free 30 day supply. So with that , and any samples a patient can get from their doctor, that is a huge savings :)

thanks everyone for the kindness of your replies....it really does help to have support.....I appreciate that.
Lol @peteycap...yeah.....i love that movie too....especially Marisa Tomei!!!

Vinnie if they put you on an anticoagulant, Pradaxa might be the way to go like Claine said. Warfarin is cheap but there are lab costs involved. I pay 41.00 every time I go which is every 3 or 4 weeks depending on my INR. If I could take Pradaxa I would gladly do so, but I can't because my issue is a valve replacement.

By the way My Cousine Vinny was one of my favs as well.

Pradaxa has it's problems too. Just a few days ago, three law suits filed because of its deadly side effects.

Here's why it can be so dangerous... Pradaxa blocks the release of a key protein that is essential to the formation of blood clots If you suffer an internal injury or have an ulcer, you could be in real trouble because there is no anecdot or reversing agent that can eliminate it's inhibition of blood clot formation. Even more troublesome, some of Pradaxa's deaths have happened while patients were in the hospital. Doctors could not stop the bleeding.

There's more to the story than that and more to weigh... believe me I know...
1) Pradaxa is 35% more effective than Coumadin for preventing strokes. Coumadin claims 67% reduction in strokes. And Pradaxa is 35% more effective so that means cumulatively Pradaxa prevents about 91% of strokes. These are just numbers and higher stroke risks are borne by those over 75 and who had previous strokes or other medical problems (Google CHA2DS2VaSC stroke risk scoring for more information). If your stroke risk using the CHA2DS2VaSC Scoring System is 4% per year with AFIB, if you use Coumadin (Warfarin), your risk is now 1.32 % per year. And thats if your INR (how thin your blood is) is correctly maintained and that has been very problematic for people and did I mention you have to have it monitored using Coumadin? Oh no! I forgot to mention that all healthy greens mess up your INR if you vary your intake (Vitamin K effect). If you use Pradaxa, your stroke risk, assuming the same original risk, would now be .36 %. THATS A BIG DEAL!!! The idea is to reduce stroke. You take Pradaxa twice a day. You dont have to get checked. The effects wear off in 12-17 hours.
2) Coumadin has far greater amounts of BRAIN BLEEDS!!!! THATS ANOTHER BIG DEAL!!! Pradaxa is harder on the gastric system for some people and the bleeds with Pradaxa are more likely to be stomach bleeds. Most people dont have a problem. Brain bleed or stomach bleed? THATS A NO BRAINER!!!
3) Oh no! I forgot to mention that all healthy greens mess up your INR if you vary your intake (Vitamin K effect). OK so you say you will cut out your greens sounds easy enough Oh no! Vitamin K prevents calcification of the arteries and people on longterm Coumadin (Warfarin) have been shown to have more calcified arteries.
4) So far, the first 3 have gotten my vote to go to Pradaxa but theres more. The bleeds with Pradaxa were with elderly patients with fragile bodies AND they dont know if they double dosed themselves or triple dosed themselves. Who knows? Further, doctors indiscriminately prescribed Pradaxa to patients with bad kidney function (Pradaxa is cleared by the kidneys).
5) The emergency room trauma scenario: You are hit by an 18 wheeler while getting out of your Smart Car to pick up a penny (Good thing you got out) you start bleeding. First of all, you will probably die anywaybut foregoing that, the idea that Coumadin (Warfarin) can quickly be reversed is simply not true. It takes hours. Pradaxa does not have an antidote yet, but they can clear it with charcoal and dialysis while they are sewing your butt back on. Solution get out of your Smart Car on the sidewalk side or get a Hummer and send someone else out to get the penny.
6) Lets review: My analysis is to be careful and take Pradaxa as a stroke is very bad as are brain bleeds and calcified arteries. INR testing and getting it right is a pain. So isnot eating healthy. Coumadin used to be used to kill mice by having them bleed out. D-Con was the product. Not sure how many mice had afib or strokes. Sounds primitive.
7) One last thing: Coumadin (Warfarin) is the number one medication for adverse effects resulting in emergency room visits. Class over.

:-)

petey

Petey- I know that this is a serious subject but I could not help but laugh out loud several times while reading your post! I truly needed the jolt of humor to keep humming through my work day! Thanks!!

Wow. Petey, incredibly informative and knowledgeable response regarding Pradaxa. Jesus-H, some of these freakin' med.s are seriously tricky regarding their potential side effects. Whew, geeezzz and so much of it sounds like freakin' trial and error.