how are we going to pay?

[ruthallen]

So we finaly found a combination of meds thst workd for our son. But since we have a high deductible his meds are going to be $500 a month. Plus $200 a month to go to his psychiatrist and another $200 each time he sees his therapist. To me none of these things are optional and while the psychiatrist and therapist will take payments they don't like to.how sad is it that I wish someone in our family needed to go into the hospital for a couple of days so we can meet are insurance deductible? At least they would accept payments... the pharmacy will not.

[ruthallen]

Its an hsa our deductible is almost $4000 and the max out of pocket is another $2000.

Quoting DDDaysh:

 Are you using an FSA or an HSA?  The FSA limits are kinda low, but the HSA limits are pretty high.  How large is your deductible? 

Quoting ruthallen:

Thats what I do also, but I can only put so much in each year (and that amount is only a little higher then the deductiable) and what is going in is not enough to pay for the meds and all the other apoitments each month. We actualy got very lucky this week and my husband got a bonus we did not expect so we got the meds and gas for the cars. :-)

Quoting DDDaysh:

I deduct money out of my check every single time to put in an HSA.  My son's meds are over $300/month so without that I'd never be able to budget for it. 

 

[ruthallen]

I will starting next month but with our insurance I have to get 3 months worh meaning I am gojng to need about $1000 to pay for it.

Quoting JulesFairy:

Im not totally sure i understand everything but the only advice i have is to look into mail order meds. Since they dont have the cost of brick and mortar buildings they are usually much cheaper

[DDDaysh]

 You should be able to contribute enough then, at least legally.  I put $200 every paycheck which works out to $4,800 for the year, and I could still (legally speaking) contribute more. 

Quoting ruthallen:

Its an hsa our deductible is almost $4000 and the max out of pocket is another $2000.

Quoting DDDaysh:

 Are you using an FSA or an HSA?  The FSA limits are kinda low, but the HSA limits are pretty high.  How large is your deductible? 

Quoting ruthallen:

Thats what I do also, but I can only put so much in each year (and that amount is only a little higher then the deductiable) and what is going in is not enough to pay for the meds and all the other apoitments each month. We actualy got very lucky this week and my husband got a bonus we did not expect so we got the meds and gas for the cars. :-)

Quoting DDDaysh:

I deduct money out of my check every single time to put in an HSA.  My son's meds are over $300/month so without that I'd never be able to budget for it. 

 

 

[Verrine]

Wow. That is really high maintenance for one child. Seriously, the psychiatrist can't come up with cheaper meds or samples or even a reduced cost?  Have you made it clear what your costs are?

Also, that therapist cost is ridiculous. Our developmental pediatrician said that she didn't recommend therapy before age 8 because the kids couldn't process it. Is your son actually getting $200 worth of value out of a session? Can you cut it to every other week, at least until things get cheaper?

[ruthallen]

We put in $250 every pay check.... that is the $6000 that covers the deductible and max out of pocket. So that $500 will cover the meds each month but not the dr appointments or if anyone elsr gets sick. And the max contribution a year is only $6450... so increasing it will not help us much.

Quoting DDDaysh:

 You should be able to contribute enough then, at least legally.  I put $200 every paycheck which works out to $4,800 for the year, and I could still (legally speaking) contribute more. 

Quoting ruthallen:

Its an hsa our deductible is almost $4000 and the max out of pocket is another $2000.

Quoting DDDaysh:

 Are you using an FSA or an HSA?  The FSA limits are kinda low, but the HSA limits are pretty high.  How large is your deductible? 

Quoting ruthallen:

Thats what I do also, but I can only put so much in each year (and that amount is only a little higher then the deductiable) and what is going in is not enough to pay for the meds and all the other apoitments each month. We actualy got very lucky this week and my husband got a bonus we did not expect so we got the meds and gas for the cars. :-)

Quoting DDDaysh:

I deduct money out of my check every single time to put in an HSA.  My son's meds are over $300/month so without that I'd never be able to budget for it. 

 

 

[ruthallen]

This is the first time we have had to pay for 100% of the RX as when he started on it we had met the deductible and only had a 20% copay and got a 3 month supply just before the new year once we hit the max out of pocket. It just works so well I am not sure I want to "start over" just because of cost. The therapy is partly a "family" session to talk about success and challenges, and then some one on one time so they can work on things such as calming methods and believe it or not he will talk to her about things he will not talk to me about. We are only doing it every other week but I may cut it back to once a month until we meet the deductible.

Quoting Verrine:

Wow. That is really high maintenance for one child. Seriously, the psychiatrist can't come up with cheaper meds or samples or even a reduced cost?  Have you made it clear what your costs are?

Also, that therapist cost is ridiculous. Our developmental pediatrician said that she didn't recommend therapy before age 8 because the kids couldn't process it. Is your son actually getting $200 worth of value out of a session? Can you cut it to every other week, at least until things get cheaper?

[Verrine]

A family session makes sense and it does sound helpful. I know that you hate the idea of messing with a good thing. Is there anywhere else in the household budget where you can squeeze a little more?

Call the psychiatrist and ask about samples. Some get them and some don't, but maybe they can ask around for you. A lot of times they don't realize how expensive what they're prescribing is. Obviously the drug reps want to get them to prescribe the new trademarked stuff. My kid's on Daytrana and it is ridiculously expensive out of pocket. If we were financially desperate, we'd have to go back to Ritalin.