Without insurance?
Seriously. I am thinking very hard about some not very nice things to do if the inevitable endo visit costs me over $1000 dollars.
This is like cancer medicine for me, I don't know what I'm capable of doing to get up the funds to do all of this. Somebody tell me why my wife and child qualify for state health insurance, but I'm denied?
Anyone have any experience paying out of pocket for HRT?
Whoops- mods please move this to the HRT forum.
I don't know about the endo visit, but I pay $10 a month for estrogen and $14 a month for spiro, both from Walmart.
I would let them know you are paying out of pocket and in my experience doctors tend to be fairly accommodating to that. Such as limiting how often you need to see them, etc.....
I can't believe they're that cheap out of pocket, and I hope the doctor is accommodating. That's definitely good news.
I was having a total drama queen moment.
Yes, let the doctor know if you will be paying out of pocket and try to get prescriptions for generics if possible. My doctor prefers to prescribe premarin, but after a while I told her it was just to expensive for me even with insurance and asked her to switch me to a generic estradiol which she did. You may be able to minimize testing also depending on your medical history and what the doctor wants as a minimum. Some like to see estrogen or testosterone blood level tests but those tests are very expensive (hundreds of $). CBC, liver function, cholesterol tests are not as expensive.
I actually have been going the out-of-pocket route - I'm 21 and my insurance is still through my parents, who happen to be unsupportive.
You want to look for either clinics that are "sliding-fee scale" or "fee-for-service". So far my doctor visits have been about $100 a visit. There aren't a ton of places around that do fee for service, but there are a few. When your doc wants to do lab work, let them know your situation - they can cut certain tests and still keep you safe, and you can probably get away with $100 or less of lab work.
I haven't done sliding fee scale yet (I will tomorrow when I see my new doc), but if you have a low income (im a "poor college student"), you can get a reasonably low rate per visit. I get therapy for $10 a visit thanks to sliding-fee. If I saw my therapist at her private practice, it'd be more like $110 a session.
Quote from: rar on February 09, 2011, 12:17:26 AMI don't know about the endo visit, but I pay $10 a month for estrogen and $14 a month for spiro, both from Walmart.
I'm fortunate to have health insurance, and my price for one month of estradiol is $4, or three months for $10. :D Unfortunately, spironolactone didn't agree with my tendency towards kidney stones, so I'm paying Inhouse Pharmacy their full price for Siterone. :(
Just to throw the numbers out there, I'm paying just under $6 a month for estradiol and $23 a month for spiro.
Tips: Fill the spiro as multiples of a lower dose - this saves a ton of money. Just ask the pharmacist and they can do this for you.
Costco Online is also a big money saver - my spiro script is 1/3 the cost of when I was filling at Walmart. You don't even need a Costco membership - just create an account, enter your scripts, fax or mail them the actual prescription, and they give you free shipping.
I pay out of pocket for HRT as none of it is covered by my insurance. The actual cost of the meds is only part of the total cost. My monthly med costs are under $100 for Estradiol and Spironolactone. If you want to add Avodart or another androgen blocker (Finasteride or Propecia), the cost will go up significantly.
Also you have to factor in the blood work costs (lab cost). Every time I have my blood tested it's around $200 for the E level, K level, and Hepatic Function tests. These 3 are normally checked every few months (2-3) at the beginning, then around every 6 or so after the first year. If you have your T level checked, that's around $200 just for that single test.The cost of the actual doc office visits aren't bad, and I usually pay around $100.00 per visit.
Then you have to think about incidentals, such as hair removal, new clothes, etc. It gets really expensive, really fast. For example I've spent way more on hair removal than all my doc visits, lab work, and meds combined. Granted, I'm having full body laser removal, but I wasn't very hairy to start with either.
This process gets really expensive, really fast. Emphasis on the word expensive. :-\
I had full-body laser hair removal using the Candela GentleLase about eight years ago, and that was $4500 at the time.
I'm really glad I had that done BEFORE renovating the house and now having to pay a mortgage. If it weren't for the monthly mortgage, I'd be a lot farther along in transition. Unfortunately, our home would also have lost a lot of comparable value, and was likely to have a lot more electrical and plumbing problems. So, everything we do is a trade-off, of sorts.
Well, taken altogether it doesn't sound completely hopeless. I suppose if I remain calm and remember that certain things take time (I can't wake up with a million dollars and go viola!), everything should be alright.
Thanks for the help :)
Quote from: Caith on February 10, 2011, 12:08:52 PM
I had full-body laser hair removal using the Candela GentleLase about eight years ago, and that was $4500 at the time.
I'm really glad I had that done BEFORE renovating the house and now having to pay a mortgage. If it weren't for the monthly mortgage, I'd be a lot farther along in transition. Unfortunately, our home would also have lost a lot of comparable value, and was likely to have a lot more electrical and plumbing problems. So, everything we do is a trade-off, of sorts.
I've spent around $8000 going for almost the last year, every 6-8 weeks. My tech uses the Candela Gentle YAG and I've been really happy with the results. I tried the Candela GentleLase Alexandrite laser at another laser center, but they closed. The Candela lasers are my preference as well based on my experience with them.
Quote from: MarinaM on February 10, 2011, 02:05:29 PM
Well, taken altogether it doesn't sound completely hopeless. I suppose if I remain calm and remember that certain things take time (I can't wake up with a million dollars and go viola!), everything should be alright.
Thanks for the help :)
Save, save, save. You'd be amazed at how much you can save when you cut out the little extras like eating lunch out everyday, going out to dinner 3 times a week, extras like shoes, clothes, and make up which I spend way too much on anyway. >:-) I've also recently switched to drinking only water when I do go out, and you be amazed at just how much these small changes can add up to .
There's also the cost of loosing family, friends, potential partners and biological children if you're on the younger side of life and you have not had children or had a partner. There's so much more to this then mere dollars and cents. Just a thought.
You have to factor in everything as you transition, its a huge step.
Stardust