Overwhelmed

While beginning my research into growth hormone treatment, I found that the treatment was extremly expensive. I had already been warned so I wasn't too shocked to find out it costs over $100,000 per year. I also learned that some insurance companies don't pay for growth hormone treatments. (Please note that upfront, I knew that my regular medical insurance did not cover growth hormone treatments. It was my prescription insurance that we would be submitting the claim to). In the middle of my crisis, I received a call from the drug company. The lady introduced herself and said she would be my advocate that would be working with the insurance company. She explained that she would take care of all the paperwork, including the appeal that usually followed the denial of coverage. She went on to explain that it was typical of the insurance company to deny the claim two or more times before accepting it. That helped. I didn't even know where to begin on how to deal with insurance companies. After the first denial of coverage from my insurance (based on the fact that Kyle did not fail the growth hormone stimulation test), I called my advocate and told her about the denial. She immediately began the appeal process. Which was quickly followed by a second denial. My advocate explained to me there was a 2nd level appeals process and due to privacy issues, I needed to ask my insurance company what that process was. I called my advocate and explained to her the process and she was preparing to proceed. In the meantime, while the paperwork was being filed and refiled, Kyle's window of growth opportunity was beginning to close. To help Kyle, the drug company offered us a 3 month supply of his growth hormone for FREE, while they dealt with the insurance. They also offered us some information on a program that would provide the drug at little or no cost to us if the insurance ultimately denied the claim. WOW!