Migraine Medication and Health Insurance: Help With Migraines Or More Pain?
Medical insurance is becoming more and more difficult to obtain. If you are trying to cover yourself and your family, premiums are extremely expensive, sometimes eating up at least a week’s worth of wages. The conditions that are not benefits or are minimally covered benefits are becoming more numerous while the conditions that are considered essential coverage by a large portion of people are becoming scarce. In addition, a great number of people simply cannot pay the required premiums since they have increased so dramatically, so those people are exposed to health situations that require expensive treatment.
Migraine headaches are the most recent fatality to come from limitations set by the insurance companies. In the past these incapacitating headaches created a learning experience for the medical profession as treatment ranged from tranquilizers, muscle relaxers, and a variety of pain killers.
Work was done on developing and advancing new prescription medications during the 1980′s and 1990′s, precisely for migraine treatment, control, and relief. Some of the medications created worked well by themselves, some were combined with pain medication, as well as other times types of medications. Now that we’re in the 21st century, there are a lot of medications that have been created explicitly for migraines, and people who suffer from this condition are able to find them in numerous locations throughout this country as well as other parts of the world. The problem comes from the fact that many of these medications are priced beyond the reach of average workers, and health insurance either covers an inadequate amount of the cost, or doesn’t cover them at all.
Medications developed specifically for migraines, and meant to be taken with every migraine, are often doled out in amounts of 8 to 12 pills monthly. This leaves the patient with the task of determining which migraines they can medicate and which they must suffer through to conserve medication. Insurance will not pay for early refills and so the patient must pay the lion’s share of the exorbitant cost. Even when a patient is up to date on their insurance premium payments, they often can not make use of that insurance to purchase the medications they really need. Migraine headaches can signal other health conditions. They have been linked to stroke. Are there other options for those who cannot afford the cost of medication?
For people in that position, like a friend of mine who isn’t able to afford insurance, there’s the possibility of Medicaid. Medicaid is available providing you are willing to wade through all the paperwork, can meet the income limitations, are able to find a way of getting approval, and then you’ll have coverage for help on costs of prescriptions and seeing a doctor. If you make it through the initial requirements, you still have to stay alert because you could lose your coverage in a heartbeat for not calling Medicaid on something or not sending in a correct form or paperwork.
America is the richest country in the world. It is shameful that a country with so much to offer cannot guarantee access to much needed medications for its citizens. Migraine sufferers may be fated to be the latest victims of health insurance limitations. But for just how long, remains to be seen. Health care is now a priority in our new congress but many questions remain. We will be waiting for the answers.
Get details on the different Types of Migraine Headaches and to Learn Insurance and Migraine Options, Visit the Migraine Headache Guide at Migraines-Headaches.org.
