One name for 2 villains!

The term diabetes stands for two rather different diseases. Type I diabetes cannot be prevented and usually shows up in early childhood. The body’s immune system develops a genetic habit of attacking the pancreas and preventing insulin production. All that parents can do is to make sure that a child with Type 1 diabetes gets insulin in time and that diet and exercise are tightly controlled. Children with this disorder are at risk of being mentally scarred as they cannot always do the same things as their peers: enjoying a simple ice-cream or similar treat is an example. Nevertheless a Primary Care Physician can set out a program by which a child with this disease grows up almost normally and has an excellent quality of life, full of achievement and success. Halle Berry, the striking actress of James Bond fame, is a Type 1 Diabetes sufferer.

Type II diabetes is a different cup of tea. It arises because obesity and a couch-potato attitude to life prevent insulin from doing its job. The condition is largely reversible, or can be mitigated to a significant extent by shedding extra kilos and exercising regularly. These things while easy and innocuous need a doctor’s supervision as some delicate balances between the heart, kidneys and other organ functions are involved. Type II diabetes is one of the diseases that modern medicine can manage best, even when medication has to supplement diet and exercise. However such medication can be expensive and can inflate Health Insurance costs. Diabetes has no cure as yet, so the expenses continue ad-infinitum throughout life.

Diabetes regardless of its type has profound influence on Health Insurance benefits.

Some things to check during open enrollment or when changing jobs:

1. Is there a window during which a pre-existing condition of diabetes is not covered by a policy?

2. Is the Health Insurance Company’s plan legally valid in the State where you live, in terms of exclusions for some kinds of expenses for diabetes management?

3. Do co-payments suit you better than a high premium or would you rather pay once a month or a quarter?

4. How do alternate products stack up in terms of expenses for diabetes management that are not covered at all?

5. Does your Primary Care Physician believe that anyone in your family could develop glucose intolerance during the coming year?

Lifetime limits on Health Insurance benefits are other key concerns when it comes to chronic diseases such as diabetes. It is never too late to start planning for the well-being of your loved ones and yourself. It is never premature to plan ahead for the foreseeable future, though the probabilities of some very grave occurrences are hopefully low.