Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Health Insurance and Clinical Trials

My health insurance might lapse soon with all of the school closures due to the recent education reform. I'm currently covered under my mom's insurance (luckily, until I'm 25). This is a blessing, as the medications I'm on for OCD and depression cost $300 a month before insurance.

Barring me finding a nice paying job with full health benefits after my term with AmeriCorps ends, I'm going to have to turn to clinical trials. There are a few good ones in Washington state. There are some that just act as an adjunct to your current medication (which makes it less risky if you get the placebo rather than the drug that they are testing). Those wouldn't be too bad.

If that fails, I'll have to look into selling my plasma again to pay for my medicine. When I was in college, I donated my plasma twice a week, every other week, for $120 a month. This was my grocery and gas money. It bought me vitamins, fresh fruit, and enough gas to get to my internship and back every day. It wasn't too painful or risky; plasma is replenished in the body every 24 hours. As long as you made sure that the nurse wore clean gloves every time he/she checked up on you, you were okay. If I were desperate, I could donate up to eight times a month, for a grand total of $240. That almost pays for my medications!

How do you pay for health care?

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