RAISING THE MONEY FOR VAGINISMUS TREATMENT IN 2015

[Heather34]

Hi all. Happy 2015!!! One of the most important Forum topics is discussing ways of raising the money to have the Botox treatment for Vaginismus in the New Year. Maybe if we can brainstorm ideas together, this would help even one person or couple to discover a way to pay for treatment.

Insurance Coverage

There has been much discussion concerning Insurance Coverage for Vaginismus Treatment:

See Blog Link:
http://www.vaginismusmd.com/insurance-coverage-for-the-botox-treatment-for-vaginismus/

Excerpts include:
“Vaginismus is listed as a “sexual pain disorder” in the DSM –IV (American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Washington D.C.) The FDA has approved our Botox Treatment for Vaginismus research. Variable coverage is provided by many insurance companies. There are usually a number of elements in the Botox treatment for vaginismus program that may be covered. Each policy is different and a pre-certification and/or a prior authorization of benefits are usually a good idea. Because our office does not handle insurance claims, we have contracted with a third party service, Diane Tremblay of DMT Insurance Billing Services, LLC. Diane is a billing specialist with over 25 years of medical coding experience and has been working to help our patients and many of them have received significant insurance reimbursement for their Botox treatment for vaginismus.”

Reese has written:
“My treatment cost (not including flight and hotel, of course) was $5250, and insurance reimbursed me $3756. This was a HUGE help for me. The only reason I saw a reimbursement was because Diane Tremblay fought hard for many hours with my insurance company until they paid the proper portion of the claim. She is worth every penny, as is the treatment!!!!!”

Elliot has written:
“We were fortunate that our insurance covered Dr. Pacik and his office. His practice was in our insurance network! When we had our procedure done, a wonderful lady named Diane Tremblay filled the insurance for Dr. Pacik’s office. She was awesome! She made sure that we would get as much of a refund as possible. We had to pay up front for the procedure, but in about a month, we got our insurance reimbursement. After going to Manchester, and meeting the wonderful staff, I would have paid for the procedure regardless if the insurance covered or not. The work that they’re doing is remarkable in my opinion.”

So, how do you pay for your procedure up front while waiting for the insurance company reimbursement?

CareCredit

In the past, there has been much discussion about obtaining financing through CareCredit.

Allie has written:
“After looking on the website I found where I could apply for a Care Credit Card. I applied that day and I was approved to cover most of the procedure/treatment cost! It was such an easy process and I’m so thankful that Dr. P’s office accepts care credit. I was able to call that day to set up my procedure! The best part is there is NO interest on my card for 12 months. So I will be able to have it payed off in time without having to pay interest. Here I am today almost 4 months post procedure and I am using my dilators every day with zero pain and I am having pain free intercourse with my husband.”

Janet Pacik has written:
“Care Credit has helped so many women get the financing they need for their procedures. In the past, most of the women applying for Care Credit have been our breast enlargement patients; but I am now happy to report that many of our vaginismus patients have benefited from Care Credit too. CareCredit is specifically designed to finance medical procedures, particularly those not usually covered by insurance. With low minimum monthly payment options, no up-front costs, no prepayment penalties and no annual fees, you can get your procedure scheduled sooner. (CareCredit is only available to patients residing in the United States.) For more information on CareCredit and other financing options, please visit our website. http://www.vaginismusmd.com/patient-info/financing-information/”

Medical Financing Website

In addition to CareCredit, there has been discussion concerning other financing options:

See Blog Link:
http://www.vaginismusmd.com/carecredit-or-mymedicalloan-financing-for%E2%80%A8-vaginismus-treatment/

Concerning MedicalFinancing.com, excerpts include:
“Medical Financing Benefits and Details
• Affordable monthly payments, as low as 1% of your balance
• Interest free and Same as Cash programs are available for up to 3, 6, or 12, months for qualified applicants
• Low rates starting at 5.9%
• 1% cash back reward program
• Convenient revolving lines of credit
• Simple interest installment loans
• No prepayment penalty
• Multiple Loan plans to choose from
• Sub-prime financing available for less than perfect credit
MedicalFinancing.com helps makes any medical procedure a reality.
Apply today and see how MedicalFinancing.com can make a difference.”

Family, Friends and Church

Dr. Pacik has written:
“Although I know it may be scary or difficult to ask for help, I encourage my patients to tell family, friends and church groups about their condition to spread awareness and to possibly obtain financial support for their treatment and travel expenses.”

Recently on the Forum, much has been written about speaking to family, friends, and even the church about vaginismus in a non-sexual context.

Again, Dr. Pacik has written:
“Talking to parents is actually quite easy when one explains that not only is it difficult (or impossible) to use tampons but also that it is often impossible to have a GYN exam. This helps remove the conversation from sexual difficulties of vaginismus and emphasizes the inability to use tampons during menses and the disadvantage of not being able to have a proper GYN exam. One does not need to discuss sexual involvement.”

On-Line Fundraising

Recently, there has been excellent discussion and ideas concerning on-line fundraising to finance the procedure.

Give Forward

In an excellent Newsletter:
http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=1dd4a9a73c9f83aac77198b21&id=f81fc9c75b&e=c214ca335b
the idea of Give Forward was examined.

Excerpts include:
Recently, I was introduced to an amazing fundraising resource for people who need help with medical-related expenses when facing a health condition or illness. It is called Give Forward. http://www.giveforward.com/ This website creates a user-friendly platform to ask friends, family, and even caring strangers to make donations towards your treatment and travel expenses.

Starting a fundraiser takes courage, but Give Forward makes the process easy, joyful, and memorable. You can easily share your fundraiser through email and social media. You can also enlist those closest to you to become “team members” and help you get the word out and make your campaign touching and personal.

Give Forward also has amazing resources to help you make you fundraiser successful. Check out this Give Forward article: 17 Fundraising Ideas to Raise More Money. http://www.giveforward.com/p/fundraising-ideas It is filled with wonderful suggestions.

And…. they even assign a personal Fundraising Coach to each and every fundraiser, to provide you with guidance and support. Your coach will be available via phone, email or live-chat.

While there is a small fee for using Give Forward, 95% of the time, donors cover it. It is 7.9% plus $0.50 per transaction which covers the payment processing center, the technology, and personal support.

Personal Stories from Forum Members:

Kimberly has written:
“Hello everyone … As I’m sure many of you can understand, a huge factor in getting this procedure or not is the price. I currently have two jobs and am trying to save money, but have only been able to save a couple hundred out of the 5,800 so far. A very good friend of mine (Paige) made this donation page for my condition, she kept it a secret until just a few months ago, she’s the greatest friend I could ever ask for and has always been there for me throughout this entire journey. As much as I dislike asking anyone for money, even my own family never mind strangers, I have to take advantage of any possible means of getting to my goal. Because the sooner I get this procedure done, the sooner I can truly live my life. Even if you can’t donate yourself, if you could share this link … I would be SO grateful. Thank you all so much! Coming on to this forum has seriously saved me a lot of sleepless lonely nights.
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-21-year-old-raise-money-for-her-surgery-/128221”

Becca has written:
“After praying about it and talking with my Aunt (my confidant through this!) she suggested starting a fundraiser to come up with the money to make the trip. At first I was unsure because due to travel, our goal was to come up with $8,000, which was a huge number. Some people in our life knew that we were struggling to get pregnant, and some did not. We basically decided to take a step out in faith. My uncle created a pay-pal account and a website for us, and we shared some of our story publicly – on our FB, with our Church and friends and family. We did not share details, I made a point of stating on our website that it was something that was really private and emotionally painful for me to talk about. We said that I had a medical condition that was preventing us from being able to start a family. We said that we had tried a number of other treatments but nothing had worked and that there was a treatment in NH that had a huge success rate for helping people with this condition. Then we waited. It was incredible. We announced and shared our website on November 11, 2013 and we had all the funds and were able to have treatment on February 24, 2014. People were SO kind, and so generous. I was really nervous that people would be constantly asking me for more details, and there were a few people that did, but on the whole most people completely respected our privacy. Now I know that this may not be a plausible thing for everyone to do, but something to at least consider. I know for me as a Christian, it was amazing to witness God working so actively in our life and just to see what He is capable of doing. There is a quote that I read once and it is really fitting — “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” 🙂”

For those in the current situation of wanting the procedure but not knowing how to afford it, I hope this post has given you some new ideas. But, as you read through it, you will see many, many excerpts from OTHER forum members that have written regarding what worked for them. For the veterans reading this, I beg you to please share what worked for you or what financing ideas you also have. I believe the more we talk about it, the more we will learn and I know it could help someone so much in 2015. Please help and post your ideas here.

[Khatt30]

this is very helpful, Thanks!

[Heather34]

I’m glad you found it helpful. I tried so hard to find every past Blog, Forum Post, and Newsletter on the topic in order to examine multiple different avenues!!!

[Leena]

Hi, everyone. I just wanted to share my success in fundraising with you, in the hopes that you might be able to finance or partially finance your procedure if money is an issue for you and your insurance does not cover the procedure. It’s great that more and more insurance companies seem to be covering it, in whole or in part, but unfortunately mine wasn’t one of them! I am so thankful that I was able to raise over $3,000 through my fundraiser.

I looked for advice on the Forum and found a helpful website one of the ladies shared: http://www.yourcaring.com I used this vehicle for announcing the fundraiser on Facebook and via email to friends and family who are not on Facebook. I did not give details but explained it discreetly (I’ve pasted my wording below in case anyone would like an idea – feel free to use wording from it liberally). I shared fuller details privately with closer friends – I hadn’t told many people in the 35 years that I had suffered from vaginismus. I’m sure that is the case with many of us.

I told folks that although the website does not charge a fee, PayPal does charge a small fee (about 3%), and if they wanted to send a check to let me know and I would send them my mailing address. Luckily, most people did this. Although, it was really useful for my friends who don’t live in the U.S. to give through the site, and there are always people who prefer to just put it on their credit card. The site really allows you to tell your story and is a good way to spread the word about your fundraiser.

Please note that some people thought this was a scam and either called or emailed me to ask. I answered them and then posted to FB and followed up my email stating that some people had asked me about that and I confirmed it was me and it was real. In this case, I really do think a photo would help (although I had used one and still got questions, I’m sure my request would have been largely ignored without my photo there.)

I re-posted and re-emailed a few times over a 9-week period with a few new words on top – an update on the fundraiser, a thank you to those who already gave, a statement that if you still want to give here is the info – and that helped remind people. I thanked everyone immediately as their donations came in on YourCaring or by check and sent a thank you email to the group who supported me with donations and prayers after I came back from NH and could share how well everything went, asking for continued prayers during the year-long physical therapy.
I hope this might help some of you reading this. Good luck! By the way, the procedure was an astounding success, and I am amazed how well the self-dilating is going (I was petrified of this beforehand, but it is going great!)

Here is what I wrote on my fundraising page:

“Dear Friends and Family,

This is normally close to the time of year when I have an annual fundraiser to support a favorite charity. As funny as this feels, this year I am asking you to help me. There is a medical procedure that will make a big difference in my life. It’s very sensitive and deeply personal, so I won’t go into details.
It is for a condition that has not been well studied until very recently, and there is just one doctor who performs this treatment program, which he pioneered, and his offices are located in New Hampshire. He is well-reputed and recognized and has done thorough research and carried out studies on this treatment. He has treated hundreds of people over the past several years, with over a 90% success rate. Unfortunately, my insurance will not cover this procedure because they still consider it experimental, and this doctor is retiring this summer. In addition, I have been unable to work and will be unable to do so in the foreseeable future due to a disability (which is why I’ve temporarily moved back home to recuperate physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially).

I am hoping to have the procedure done in May in New Hampshire and would appreciate any help you can give as I try to finance the $6,000 procedure and associated travel and accommodation costs (I need to stay there several days).

Note that giving through this website, which is via PayPal, shaves 3% off your donation, so contact me if you can send a check instead.

Thanks for considering this request, and prayers and positive wishes are also needed and welcome.

All the best,
Michele”