We have added a new section to the web site called Success Stories. These describe some of the difficulties with insurance that some people have had to endure in order to get their home UVB systems, and some of the ways they managed to get their systems anyway. The procedure seems simple and straight-forward. It is supposed to go something like this:
- Get diagnosed with a nbUVB treatable condition (psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema, CTCL and the rest)
- Take phototherapy treatments for at least long enough to tell if nbUVB therapy is effective for your condition.
- Get a prescription and letter of medical necessity from your doctor for a home nbUVB system.
- Submit a claim for the home system to your insurance company.
- They verify that the condition and equipment is covered, and pay you their share of the purchase (which is dependent upon your particular policy).
- You order and install your system, which will cover virtually all your phototherapy needs for many decades, if not for life.
Many people are being given the newer "biological" medicines like Enbrel, Humira and Raptiva and are seeing wonderful results with them, despite the many undesirable side effects they can carry. Unfortunately, most patients were never told about, or given the chance to try nbUVB treatments before having such medications prescribed.
Insurance companies regularly and routinely cover the costs of administering such medications, which cost thousands of dollars each and every quarter, while at the same time fighting, denying or only partially reimbursing policy-holders for home nbUVB systems that provide many decades of effective therapy for far less than the cost of a single dose of the "biological" meds. That’s without any injections, without perpetual co-payments, and eventually with no outward signs of your skin condition.
Why they reject a one-time purchase in favor of endless pharmaceutical treatments is anyone’s guess, but it can certainly be argued that it is not in the best interests of the patient to skip past phototherapy and go right into the heavy meds. Most insurance policies specify that phototherapy should be tried before biologicals, but this is frequently ignored.
Don’t put up, speak up if your doctor wants to try the "latest & greatest" medications on you before even giving the "oldest & greatest" therapy a chance; nbUVB phototherapy. While the biologicals have been around for several years, clinical phototherapy has been around for almost a century… and people have been using natural nbUVB therapy at the Dead Sea for millennia.
A simple change in such a policy would literally save insurance companies tens of thousands of dollars, per patient, each and every year. Nobody can explain why they insist on paying more.
If you have a story you’d like to share about your experiences in dealing with your condition or your insurance and getting a home system, we’d love to include them in our new section and share them for the education of others.
