Frustration seems to be the humming angst of a thoroughly modern society. Sometimes a  simple problem, or rather a problem that seems to have an easy solution, requires the expertise of Houdini’s principles to navigate to the resolution.

Okay, to what am I speaking of specifically? INSURANCE and the whys and wherefores of reimbursement or the lack there of.

Wouldn’t it stand to reason, that the insurance companies covering medicine and all things related, would just chomp at the bit at a cost-saving measure??

Yes, you say…makes sense, right?
But, nooooooo.

The lag time (years) that it takes to acquire coverage for a fully FDA approved procedure is, simply put, mind-boggling!

Makes no sense…take, as an example, the cost comparison of hysterectomies to that of Focused Ultrasound. Hysterectomies costs are double that of Focused Ultrasound, that’s in real money, $$.

Now, include in the equation, the cost in time…both at the hospital and recuperating at home. And the cost of all of the disposable medical equipment (not to mention the profound impact on the environment) that is required with major surgery. Yikes..add to this mix, the cost of complications that occur routinely with hysterectomies/castration–of the 6 women that I know who had a hysterectomy, ALL had complications from the surgery!

Again, comparing these knowns…hysterectomy or Focused Ultrasound…it should be a no-brainer. With the Focused Ultrasound procedure, you are up and about on the same day as the procedure–yes, that very day. You walk out (skip with delight in my case) and continue on your merry way happily back to your life.

With all of the examples cited above (you now see my frustration), one would conclude that the insurance companies would certainly reimburse/cover the Focused Ultrasound procedure.  Alas, it has been five years  since the FDA approved Focused Ultrasound for the treatment of fibroids, and we are still fighting for reimbursement.

Even with all of the research that I have done, I am still not clear as to why Focused Ultrasound has to date, not been insurance approved.

It seems so simple, so black and white, so clearly obvious that the protocol of Focused Ultrasound is truly phenomenal, so insure it already….frustrated for sure!