How VA handles Incontinence

Status
Not open for further replies.
wildeyes

wildeyes

Contributor
Messages
9
Role
  1. Adult Baby
  2. Babyfur
  3. Little
  4. Incontinent
for many the VA push off bad / cheap pullup type diapers or try and get you to use catheders ( cant spell sorry ) .
i had the VA test and test me till they decided that my bladder was not sending or receiving signals right and would fill till it popped since i get no warning when i need to go i wear diapers i got a nonformalory consult for Molicare witch the VA will pay for.
if what the va porvides dose not work they can get molicare if you ask
you just need to prove you need the better product and are incon

if you need help wording how to approach a va doctor just ask
i made this post just incase some other veteran could use the information that the VA will pay for Molicare Slips witch are fairly good not the best but for what govermet will buy there good
 
wildeyes said:
for many the VA push off bad / cheap pullup type diapers or try and get you to use catheders ( cant spell sorry ) .
i had the VA test and test me till they decided that my bladder was not sending or receiving signals right and would fill till it popped since i get no warning when i need to go i wear diapers i got a nonformalory consult for Molicare witch the VA will pay for.
if what the va porvides dose not work they can get molicare if you ask
you just need to prove you need the better product and are incon

if you need help wording how to approach a va doctor just ask I made this post just incase some other veteran could use the information that the VA will pay for Molicare Slips witch are fairly good not the best but for what govermet will buy there good
Click to expand...

Actually it depends if you live east or west of the mississippi river. The VA has two different supplier contracts. On the east cost, the "best" diapers you can get are covideen wings. You CANNOT get anything better (trust me, I tried, hard). On the west coast you can get better diapers, even ones like confidry, northshore, and etc (though you have to fight for them and have to get your doctor to request them by name).

Since I live on the east coast, I cannot get even half-decent diapers from the VA. I refuse to try and make those useless diapers work too, they aren't even worth being free to me. I had my doctor and pharmacist on my side, and went back and fourth with the contracted supplier. No such luck. I even looked at suing them, simply because of the huge east-west desparity. Unfortunately the VA (and supplier) has been protected by congress against such lawsuits.
 
i am in ohio and am able to get molicare from the VA and was able to get from them them in flordia they have a contract with that company as a whole so getting a nonfomalary consult is possible but is a pain
 
wildeyes said:
i am in ohio and am able to get molicare from the VA and was able to get from them them in flordia they have a contract with that company as a whole so getting a nonfomalary consult is possible but is a pain
Click to expand...

Please tell me HOW did you get them?

I had a nonformulary prescription from my pcm. I even had her write out the prescription for them- by name, and included where to get them from. The pharmacist approved the diapers too, but the supplier refused to carry/ship them.

I then made an appeal to the patient advocate after that. They too said I was ok to get what I needed, but after looking into it said they couldn't actually get them for me.
 
Slomo said:
Please tell me HOW did you get them?

I had a nonformulary prescription from my pcm. I even had her write out the prescription for them- by name, and included where to get them from. The pharmacist approved the diapers too, but the supplier refused to carry/ship them.

I then made an appeal to the patient advocate after that. They too said I was ok to get what I needed, but after looking into it said they couldn't actually get them for me.
Click to expand...

nonpharmarlry consult (sorry can not spell it) it is a consult for something the VA dose not keep on hand molicare is a brand on there suplyer list .
tell them the products they have do not suit your needs and are to flimsy and do not hold .
 
wildeyes said:
nonpharmarlry consult (sorry can not spell it) it is a consult for something the VA dose not keep on hand molicare is a brand on there suplyer list .
tell them the products they have do not suit your needs and are to flimsy and do not hold .
Click to expand...

That IS what I did. Still got denied them.
 
Call your Senator or Congress rep. That will light a fire under the VA and it should help resolve your situation. You can tell them that the VA is supplying "SUB-STANDARD" DME supplies. You don't have to mention diapers if you are uncomfortable
 
Jayme said:
Call your Senator or Congress rep. That will light a fire under the VA and it should help resolve your situation. You can tell them that the VA is supplying "SUB-STANDARD" DME supplies. You don't have to mention diapers if you are uncomfortable
Click to expand...

Part of that problem is the VA (and most insurances) no longer include diapers as durable medical equipment. The reason is the DME by definition is reusable.

It tried reasoning that cathaters are considered dme, but are also single use. It fell on deaf ears though.
 
Slomo, you may try having the patient advocate discuss the issue with the the local head of the pharmacy. I know that the VA I go through here in Iowa, the head of the pharmacy is wonderful, and will make it happen if the non-formulary is approved. I have been getting Abena M4 from the VA for the past 12+ years.
 
If you can handle cloth diapers the VA has an exclusive with Angelfluff they used to even have the required paperwork available on the website, they cover diapers, boosters, pants and onesies 100% as long as you don't want the serious juvenile printed patterns ,other than some of those patterns they cover it all . I have worn Angelfluuf for 11 years ,and Jeanie & Howard sre great to deal with I spent hours on the phone with them asking questions and tire kicking before diveing in, we know each other well and i have made other cslls both before and after sale and gotten undivided service .

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
 
iowaincon said:
Slomo, you may try having the patient advocate discuss the issue with the the local head of the pharmacy. I know that the VA I go through here in Iowa, the head of the pharmacy is wonderful, and will make it happen if the non-formulary is approved. I have been getting Abena M4 from the VA for the past 12+ years.
Click to expand...

She did exactly that. Still got told there was nothing she could do.

- - - Updated - - -

Tetra said:
If you can handle cloth diapers the VA has an exclusive with Angelfluff they used to even have the required paperwork available on the website, they cover diapers, boosters, pants and onesies 100% as long as you don't want the serious juvenile printed patterns ,other than some of those patterns they cover it all . I have worn Angelfluuf for 11 years ,and Jeanie & Howard sre great to deal with I spent hours on the phone with them asking questions and tire kicking before diveing in, we know each other well and i have made other cslls both before and after sale and gotten undivided service .

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no. I have gone cloth before & found I need quite a thick diaper (like 6+ layers) in order for it to not get saturated and leak. That thickness, coupled with my side sleeping, was causing some pretty bad hip pain. I can still use them periodically, but I'd honestly rather not. The laundry from my diapers was an even bigger pain.
 
Seems really strange to me. I wonder if the head of pharmacy at your location has no clue what they are doing. The whole point of a "Non Fourmulary prescription" is that it is not something that is available as a "Formulary Prescripton" meaning inside the normal VA health care supply chain. The head of your pharmacy should be able to whip out a credit card and purchase anything they want to from anywhere they want to, as long as it has been approved by the doctors and the such. I know when I first started getting Abena, they purchased them directly from Gary at XP Medical, as I told them that was the place to get them, and they had him ship them directly to my house. After a few years of that they started to get them somewhere else, but I still get them. I found out last year when I inquired about possibly getting a different non-formulary provided diaper that I am literally the only patient in the Iowa City VA health care network that has a non-formulary prescription for incontinence products, so that that point I kind of dropped it. If I were you, I would keep on fighting with them about it, don't give up, the VA takes time and red tape to accomplish anything.
 
iowaincon said:
Seems really strange to me. I wonder if the head of pharmacy at your location has no clue what they are doing. The whole point of a "Non Fourmulary prescription" is that it is not something that is available as a "Formulary Prescripton" meaning inside the normal VA health care supply chain. The head of your pharmacy should be able to whip out a credit card and purchase anything they want to from anywhere they want to, as long as it has been approved by the doctors and the such. I know when I first started getting Abena, they purchased them directly from Gary at XP Medical, as I told them that was the place to get them, and they had him ship them directly to my house. After a few years of that they started to get them somewhere else, but I still get them. I found out last year when I inquired about possibly getting a different non-formulary provided diaper that I am literally the only patient in the Iowa City VA health care network that has a non-formulary prescription for incontinence products, so that that point I kind of dropped it. If I were you, I would keep on fighting with them about it, don't give up, the VA takes time and red tape to accomplish anything.
Click to expand...
You served them ,its now hi time they provide for your healthcare.its part of the commitment between soldiers & government , only problem they can shoot us for cowardice or desertion but we can't shoot them when they try and Welsh out of proper timely care .

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
 
iowaincon said:
Seems really strange to me. I wonder if the head of pharmacy at your location has no clue what they are doing. The whole point of a "Non Fourmulary prescription" is that it is not something that is available as a "Formulary Prescripton" meaning inside the normal VA health care supply chain. The head of your pharmacy should be able to whip out a credit card and purchase anything they want to from anywhere they want to, as long as it has been approved by the doctors and the such. I know when I first started getting Abena, they purchased them directly from Gary at XP Medical, as I told them that was the place to get them, and they had him ship them directly to my house. After a few years of that they started to get them somewhere else, but I still get them. I found out last year when I inquired about possibly getting a different non-formulary provided diaper that I am literally the only patient in the Iowa City VA health care network that has a non-formulary prescription for incontinence products, so that that point I kind of dropped it. If I were you, I would keep on fighting with them about it, don't give up, the VA takes time and red tape to accomplish anything.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I had also asked. Why couldn't thry get ANY diaper supplies from somewhere other than their main distributor. I never got a satisfactory answer, so yeah there I'm certain they had no clue what they were doing.
 
I get Northshore in virginia. Let me know if I can help.
 
archerstaley said:
I get Northshore in virginia. Let me know if I can help.
Click to expand...

Maybe if you could get your VA to educate my VA on properly processing a non formulary request.

But meh. A long time ago I came to terms the VA is already paying me for supporting my disibility every month. My diaper supplies come from that pay, so in a way I'm not paying for them myself anyways.
 
I just found out the VA used to have a north-east, and south-east supply network, in addition to their west network.

I'm wondering if my difficulty in getting decent diapers was isolated to the south east network only. Now that it's part of a bigger network I might try and get them again.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top