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You can buy them over-the-counter in Spain and Italy, I've just been told by my doctor. He has patients who take a vacation there & return with a supply. The lower price of the medicine in Spain & Italy - compared to the USA - pays for most of the vacation. He says he's read of someone going to Canada & returning with them, but they were supposedly confiscated (this is very 3rd hand so details might be missing/wrong).
I know this comment doesn't help you with your current HSA issue, but once you are on Medicaid, the information may be useful to you.
You can buy them over-the-counter in Spain and Italy, I've just been told by my doctor. He has patients who take a vacation there & return with a supply. The lower price of the medicine in Spain & Italy - compared to the USA - pays for most of the vacation. He says he's read of someone going to Canada & returning with them, but they were supposedly confiscated (this is very 3rd hand so details might be missing/wrong).
I know this comment doesn't help you with your current HSA issue, but once you are on Medicaid, the information may be useful to you.
Importing pharmaceuticals that require a prescription in the USA, that don't have a prescription - is against the law. If you're caught with them at customs they get confiscated and you end up with a drug smuggling charge under your belt.
Makes sense. It's really for very obese people not as a diet pill for aesthetic purposes. The health risks for being overweight are very low whereas when you get into morbid obesity they are very high.
Some of you have very creative ideas as to where to spend the money but, unfortunately, most of them aren't covered (such as the personal trainer or even a gym membership). I hike like a fiend and am actually already quite physically active, but thanks.
Some of you have very creative ideas as to where to spend the money but, unfortunately, most of them aren't covered (such as the personal trainer or even a gym membership). I hike like a fiend and am actually already quite physically active, but thanks.
Those are also not covered in my plan. I did hire a personal trainer after my big accident with my crushed knee. I had spent 50 weeks in physical therapy and still could not walk. I can tell you it's a very worthwhile investment. I had a guy who was a navy veteran who had been shot with a rocket through his leg and he had fallen off a high ladder and had 20 screws in his arm. I was sure he understood what I was dealing with in regard to pain. He was very good at his job and he was at a gym (with an elevator)) a half mile from my house. I still have muscle I built with him 15 years later.
Some of you have very creative ideas as to where to spend the money but, unfortunately, most of them aren't covered (such as the personal trainer or even a gym membership). I hike like a fiend and am actually already quite physically active, but thanks.
You totally and completely missed the point.
Here is the point, since it got past you:
There are better things to spend your health savings money on, than a series of injections that have potentially dangerous side effects, just because you are overweight. Especially since, as you just stated, you're already quite physically active (and therefore likely physically fit).
I wasn't aware that one had to "medically qualify" for its use just for weight loss purposes. Does one, in fact, have to be clinically obese even if one is paying out of pocket for it?
All drugs have side effects. If you're a good candidate for a drug therapy, the likely benefits outweigh the likely risks. The "trouble" with being only moderately overweight is, the likely benefits are reduced, so the tradeoff shifts.
P.S. The silver lining is - be glad that you're not a slam dunk to qualify for this therapy!
1 tube triple-antibiotic ointment. Don't get more than one, the first one's expiration date will run out before you ever use up half of the danged thing.
6 tubes of your favorite toothpaste
1 bottle of mouthwash
if you use an electric toothbrush, get a dozen replacement heads. If you don't use one, buy a good one. And get a dozen replacement heads.
A waterpik, if you don't have one.
OTC pain patches
a bottle of multivitamins
Flexible cloth bandages in every size - a few boxes of each.
Sunscreen
A lumbar support pillow from a medical supply store. You might not need it now. You'll need it eventually.
That'll be around $700 total for all of the above.
Now buy a duplicate of each. Donate it all to a charity clinic near you that treats homeless people.
Other ideas: get your teeth whitened at the dentist. Stock up on contact lens solution if you wear contacts. Buy an extra pair of Rx glasses or sunglasses.
OP: I am on Ozempic. I lost 20 pounds almost immediately after taking it but haven’t lost any more. I am sure if I quit taking it I’ll gain the weight back.
I agree with other posters who suggest a “weight loss center.” I think they don’t follow the rules as closely, as long as you have the money.
Cosmetic procedures (such as teeth whitening) are not covered.
I don't wear glasses.
And it's MEDICARE I'll soon be going on; not MEDICAID.
Interestingly: MEDICAID covers these weight loss drugs; MEDICARE does not.
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