Patients and Physicians Speak Out

I’m a Type 1 diabetic. Although there is no cure for this disease, it can be managed with appropriate prescription medications and an insulin pump. I currently have to obtain prior authorizations for three of my medications…every single year. This year alone I spent at least 40 hours on the phone in connection with my prior authorizations. My insurance company is demanding that I work for it one week per year (i.e., 40 hours) to fight for the medications that my doctor and I know are in my best interest.

Multiple delays and repeated phone calls to insurance, pharmacy and doctors trying to get much needed medication.

I have [apolipoprotein] Cll [amyloidosis] with kidney involvement/failure. I was admitted to the hospital because my blood pressure went up to 247/113. The insurance will not pay because it wasn’t preauthorized. Not sure if they understand that I cannot regulate my blood pressure on command.

The insurance company decided my daughter did not need her [treatments]. She had stage 4, metastatic ovarian cancer. It had spread to her lungs, lymph nodes, bones and brain. But she did not need treatment? She died two months later.

I have multiple medical issues. I pay for my health insurance 100% out of pocket as I own my own business. I have had three major issues with prior authorization in the past eight months. Two were insulin. Each time my insurance denied me medication because it was over the amount of insulin they allow, which is crazy because dosage is determined by blood tests. The first time it was nearly two weeks without insulin. I was very ill from this and had to beg and borrow insulin from other diabetics to get through. The second time, it was eight days. Again, I was quite ill. The insurance company literally did not care how they were endangering my life. At the end of my insurance policy, I switched to a new company with a much higher monthly premium hoping to avoid these issues. By March, the new company refused to fill my thyroid medication at the prescribed dose. They forced the doctor to lower the dose. As a thyroid cancer survivor, I do not make any thyroid hormone on my own. All of it comes from medication. My TSH level should be at 1 for health and safety and to prevent cancer reoccurrence. However, the new dosage was not enough and my TSH was nearly 50x higher than it should be. I filed with the state insurance board with no response so far. Therefore, I am currently purchasing the correct dosage online. What insurance companies are doing is, frankly, inhumane and evil. Their greed is ruining lives.

I use a CPAP machine. My insurance denied one place and said to use another. So, I switched and immediately, and they declined the prior authorization. I can't sleep well without this equipment. I need it now, not whenever [the insurance company] approves it ages from now!