I’m off for to the US for a road trip next week and I just found out that my travel insurance (which I get via my home insurance) doesn’t cover replacing medication for a pre-existing condition. This is worrying because I am a type 1 diabetic that would be in trouble if I found myself without insulin.
Am I right in thinking that visiting a GP/Family Doctor/Normal non-emergency Doctor doesn’t cost thousands of dollars? My understanding is that a non-hospital simple doctor visit would be more around 100 USD? And that possibly I could go to a walk-in thing at CVS?
Any input would be gladly received. I’m been encountering significant stress worrying about this the last 24 hours.
The older insulins (Regular and NPH) generally do not require a prescription. You’d need to talk to a pharmacist about your situation, but you should be able to get either of those relatively inexpensively, with some syringes too. The ultra-fast acting insulins like novolog and Humalog, and the longer acting ones like Lantus would require a prescription. But R and NPH generally do in a pinch, in my experience (as a diabetic AND a physician to thousands of diabetics over the years).
Browsing the internet shows that Wal-Mart is a source used by many for OTC insulin.
I think (but could be wrong, just something I heard the other day) that CVS and maybe some Walgreen’s have a doctor on staff.
If they do, maybe the can write a script for you for what you need. It would probably be helpful if you brought in what you do need in case whatever brand you’re in isn’t the same here.
A doctor at a CVS/Walgreens would almost certainly be much cheaper than a walk in clinic. And, FTR, a walk in clinic would be cheaper than a GP/Family doctor for a ‘first appointment’.
Looking online, it does look like CVS offers a walk in clinic for about $40 (Walgreens for closer to $100?). So, I’m guessing that would probably work, but you could always call first, or probably even just walk in and ask.
Thanks both of you. I have been so stressed the past 24 hours since finding out that I wasn’t covered and I was imagining possibly having to go to a hospital and ending up thousands of dollars in debt. Now I can relax about my upcoming holiday again.
In fact and yes I realize this could also get lost (scan it and store the scan online), one of the things you should bring is a “travel packet” from your doctor describing your medical situation: current diagnoses and prescriptions. If you need to go to a doctor while traveling, those documents can come in very handy. My mother had to see a doc when she was visiting me a month ago and she got two things: a prescription for the antibiotic she needed and a scolding for not having such a document.
This. Wal-Mart has their own ‘house insulin’ under the Relion brand name. It’s made by either Lilly or Novo depending on who their contract is with this year.
Another note - almost all U.S. available insulins are U100. (There are a very few exceptions, but you won’t run into them at Wal-Mart) If you use a different strength - and this is something that does vary according to country - be prepared to convert the dose.
Yep. I think it may usually be a nurse practitioner vs an MD but it’s a good way to get that kind of emergency help. They could prescribe the medication and you could fill it right there. Of course your insurance might not help with the cost of the medication, so you’d be out of pocket for that.
Call around before going to one of these places - CVS’s Minute Clinic, for example, does not operate in all CVS locations. For us the closest one would be 7-8 miles away even though there are 3 other CVS locations within 3 miles.
I’d suggest bringing some kind of written summary of your regimen so they know what to prescribe. And hopefully you will never need this!!
In Sweden, apparently not. I called all the major insurance places and they all said that I would not be covered. Yep, it surprised me as well. And I’m not sure if I can use a foreign insurance company anyway.
The problem seems to be that I have to be ill, just losing your medication is not enough. So I’d have to lose my insulin, fall ill due to not being able to use insulin and then I’d be covered.
In addition to nurse practitioners mentioned above that are increasingly common in several drug store chains there are also a growing number of urgent care clinics where you can see a doctor for less-than-emergency things. I’d guess $150 for a walk-in consultation would be a ballpark cost, as opposed to emergency rooms that will cost a lot more.
If you know your diabetes well, and are used to adjusting your own insulins, I would not think you’d need to consult with a practitioner just to replace lost insulin. Get it at Wal-Mart or any other drug store.
I convert people from lantus to NPH by a very straightforward formula: If someone was on 30 units of lantus once a day, I’d put them on 20 NPH in the AM and 10 in the PM. In other words, 2/3 the dose in the AM, 1/3 at bedtime.
And for going from a fast acting insulin like novolog to a regular insulin like novolin it’s pretty much the same unit for unit, except regular should be dosed 30-45 minutes before eating, instead of under 15 minutes.
There are other nuances, but the above is the basics.
