Friday, December 7, 2012

Can expats returning to America get health insurance coverage for preexisting conditions?

Q. In my case I have type 1 diabetes. If I live abroad(Sweden for example) and later return to America, will I have to wait 1 year before I can qualify for coverage diabetes related health care expenses. Assuming I have a job that offers good to health insurance benefits.
Assuming I maintain "credible coverage" overseas. Like having employer supplied private insurance benefits and/or national insurance.

A. You need to maintain "creditable coverage" while you are abroad. See link below for more information. Unless you are former military or federal employee, I see two options:
1) Cobra
2) A state run, high risk insurance pool.
The problem with both options, other than the cost, is that only emergency services will be covered outside of the US. So you may need an international travel medical policy also. See the second link. The travel policy will not cover preexisting conditions, or meet the definition of creditable coverage (my opinion).
What I don't know is, how will you obtain your meds while overseas? Pay for them out of pocket, or can you have them mailed to you?
Happy travels.
Don
http://mtnhealthinsurance.com


How long can you expect to live with poorly managed type one diabetes?
Q. I've had type one diabetes for 5 years now and I don't always do the best of managing it. I'm 17 and have so many other things on my mind with school, summer, etc. anyway I've had a lot of high blood sugars so far and my A1C is 9.1. How long will Iive if I continue to not always take my shots and my A1C is high.

A. Your excuses are lame. It is YOUR life on the line and you shouldn't let anything come before taking your meds and doing what you need to do to manage your diabetes. I know someone who just died, in her sleep, from uncontrolled diabetes--she just went in for a nap and never woke up--stroked out while she slept. Usually, you'll start having the complications first though--your vision may begin to go, you'll start getting sores that won't heal and may grow bigger and bigger fast until they need to amputate, you may have little strokes that slowly destroy pieces of your brain until you are just this vegetable unable to do much of anything, you may have mini heart attacks, your liver may begin to fail, or your kidneys, your teeth may begin to come loose. ETC. You're old enough to prioritize the important things in your life--if you begin to have diabetes complications, and there's no set time for these things to show up because it's individually based, school and summer are going to become meaningless. A Type 2 has a little leeway since our insulin is usually still being produced; a Type 1 doesn't have that wiggle room and NEEDS to be on top of his diabetes care. Stop dicking around; this is not a game; this is not something you can just put on the back burner until you've got time for it; and once the complications start it's going to create a whole awful reality you do not want to deal with.


Where on the internet can I find the following medical article for purchase?
Q. Paron NG, Lambert PW. Cutaneous manifestations of diabetes mellitus. Prim Care 2000;27:371-83.

I need to purchase thius article. Can anyone please help me by telling me which website can I find this article for purchase?
Heather, your answer is just stupid, if you cannot contribute then just don't answer!

A. One problem is that I couldn't find the full name of the journal. If you can use the name of the journal and then find the publisher's site, that should help.

One other option is to contact the medical library of a nearby medical school. They can also get it for you at a reasonable cost.

Good luck.


What happens to people who can not afford dental care who have bad teeth?
Q. I don't know if diabetes makes things worst on a persons teeth it seems to destroy everyting else. I just happened to look at my teeth in a really good mirror & it looks like the tooth next to my front teeth has a cavity....I don't want to be toothless. Do I have any alternatives or hope that something I can afford will be made available in the future?

A. One of the programs the previous person is referring to is care credit (http://www.carecredit.com). Most dental offices accept this.

The other thing you may want to check is if there are any dental schools or public health clinics in your area. They will both see patients for a fraction of what a private dentist charges.

The worst thing you can do is neglect any dental issues because they will not go away, but will only get worse. For example, if you have a cavity now, it probably just requires a filling, which may be like ~$100-$200. If you wait and the decay progresses, you may end up needing a root canal and or a crown (both of which may be in the $1000 range EACH), or if you ever lost the tooth, you'd need either an implant or bridge, both of which are in the thousands.

If you look at it that way, $100-$200 doesn't seem like that much anymore, does it?

We see this everyday. If people got their problems fixed early, they'd save thousands of dollars.





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