I could say this is a gory subject, but given the age of the folks in this park it may well be very relevant. But first a little history.
In 2009 I suffered a Deep Vein Thrombosis in my left leg. This has the propensity to be totally lethal but I was lucky to have caught it before it migrated to my heart. Not so my father and his brother who died very quickly as a result of a DVT. I was immediately put on Warfarin therapy by Dr. Billie Marek of the Cancer Center in McAllen and I am still on it and will be until I die. For some 8 months I went to see Dr. Linda Villarreal for monthly testing of my INR, or coagulation factor. In November I discovered that Medicare are advocating a weekly testing at home procedure, usually via a Cardiac or Blood testing service at a cost of about $29.95 per month. Via Villarreal and Remote Cardiac Services, RCS, I obtained my own test meter, a HEMO-SENSE in December 2009 and used it until January 2014. Beginning 2014 several thing s happened. The blood testing company RCS was bought out by XYZ(?) and Physicians Health Choice, our HMO was bought by Universal Health Care. These 2 companies did not work together and I was unable to get supplies because of their incompetence during the merger processes. Worse, I suspected that the test strips used for this test were defective and on the 4th week I went to Villarreal for a venal blood test. Indeed the results were wrong and my INR had entered a lethal range!
UHC were unable to give me the name of another company that did this INR testing...yes several names were given but nobody even knew about INR testing. So I determined to acquire my own machine confident that I would get a 80% reimbursement from Medicare via UHC. This I did in March 2014, buying a COAGUSENSE meter at a cost of $792 plus a years supply of test strips for $198. In April I submitted a claim for the above. As of today I have not received a reimbursement from the United Health Care AARP Medicare Advantage Plan, notwithstanding 5 phone calls, resubmitting my claim four times and a complaint to Medicare.
After much research today I have learned something very serious that I wish to pass on.
The HEMOSENSE test meter that I was using has been withdrawn by Medicare. The problem that I encountered with this device this year was quite common, a result of which three people died. That is the machine gave an in-range INR reading, that is 1.5 to 3.5; in one of the cases the INR was actually 12.5 and the over medication caused the death of the patient.
Medicare will only reimburse for a monthly program via a blood testing service.
I was advised today that I will get a $124.99 refund from UHC.
There are currently 2 models of meter on the market. The COAGUCHECK and the COAGUSENSE. I have the latter. I learned that the Coagucheck is available via UHC now but according to one adviser this meter is not much better than the type withdrawn from service in that it does not measure coagulation directly but only derives it by resistivity measurement.
I am told that the Coagusense meter measures true INR and is the most accurate and reliable on the market. Hooray for some good news!
The best vendor that I have found for the Coagusense meter and supplies is QUICK-MEDICAL, who can be found on the Internet.
Finally I was told today that one should not use the new anti-coagulant drugs as they too can cause over medication and very high INR readings...but they have NO antidote...but warfarin does!
Ken Howton
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