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Graves Disease
In November of 2007 I received a frightening call from my 20 year old daughter. She has an irreglar heart rate and was being rushed from her place of employment to the emergency room via ambulance.
My wife and I made it to the hospital within the hour and were informed that our daughter’s heart rate was 250 beats per minute when she was admitted to the hospital. She had symptoms of graves disease (hyperthyroidism). Increased heart rate, anxiety, sweating,weight loss etc. With the proper medication the heart rate was lowered and stabilized within a few hours.
The Doctor admitted her to the hospital for an extended stay. At this point we were relieved that our daughter was being treated and would be ok. However like many 20 year old college students, she did not have any health insurance. I was concerned that a long hospital stay would have her indebted to the hospital for years. Fortunately her vital signs remained stable and she was released from the hospital within 24 hours.
She was released on Monday and had more test on Wednesday to determine the condition of her thyroid. A week later we followed up with the family Physician and it was determined that she did have graves disease and she would most likely need to take medications for the rest of her life to control the hyperthyroidism. The Doctor mentioned that of all the diseases to have, graves disease is easy to diagnose and treat the patient. While graves disease can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated, there are many conditions and diseases are difficult to diagnose and are untreatable. We count our blessing for that.
Within a few weeks the hospital bills began to appear. For the one night hosptal stay and followup treatment the amount owed was over $6,000.00. Even though our daughter did not have health insurance, we did have Health Discount Card with AmeriPlan®. Our family have been members of AmeriPlan® since 1997 and have saved on dental and medical.
The AmeriPlan® Hospital Advocacy program allows it’s members to save on hospital visits of $2500 or more. A hospital advocate is assigned who negotiates the bill directly with the hospital. When we received the hospital bills we immediately contacted AmeriPlan® and faxed the bills to the hosptal advocacy dept. The hospital advocate at AmeriPlan® assured us that most college students with limited income that they have represented, receive a significant discount upwards to 75% or more. At this time we are awaiting to get the results of the negotiation and will provide the final results at that time.
Bill Simms
Everett WA USA
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