gnelson,

Brian is right. Bypass the nutritionist and call your insurance company directly. We also live in Pennsylvania and my daughter has Keystone HMO. They didn't even question it. One call from the hospital and they had cases of Ensure delivered to the house the day she came home from the hospital.

Of course, it depends on what insurance you have, but it also depends on your health team. Anyone dealing with cancer patients on a regular basis should know how to get you what you need. If, for some reason, your ins. co. won't cover it, have you had any help from the American Cancer Society? They helped Heather with some of the cost of her Zofran prescription. That's the anti-nausea med for the amifostine that costs $26 per pill. eek

Anyway, we were told they only give $75 per month, but that you can get 3 months worth at one time. The nurse at the radiation center took care of everything. We didn't have to do anything except pay our portion and tell the nurse what pharmacy we used. They paid $225 directly to the pharmacy. I would think they would help pay for the Ensure also. They use a voucher system, so you could probably get the Ensure anywhere that accepts the vouchers. Someone on your oncology team should know how it all works.

Good luck,

Rosemary

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.