#41

It’s rare for me to disagree with your point of view. In the US, most people get all the health care they need early in life through private insurance or Medicaid. It’s not lack of healthcare that results in older people having poor health. It’s genetics and behavior- exercise, smoking, alcohol, and diet.

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#42

I really hope that you can resolve this to your benefit. We all know that the US healthcare system is broken. In my opinion, that is due to greed and over-regulation. I’m so glad that you shared this issue. I was just checking email after I woke up and saw this. I’ll be 65 in September, 2024 and am currently “kicking the tires” on the lot full of Medicare advantage plans. I’ve been taking rapamycin about a year now, without a prescription. I was just thinking that I should tell my doctor I’m taking rapamycin when I see her in early May. Wow, I cant thank you enough for saving me from doing that. Rapamycin has been great for me. I feel it definitely improved my health. The most marked improvement is greater cardiovascular capability, based on a metric of cutting the lawn in North Carolina in the hot and humid summer! I’m less winded than I’ve been in over 20 years. So, thank you for sharing, really. I’m not saying anything to the healthcare providers about my weekly 2mg Rapamycin + grapefruit juice regimen.
I wonder, do they do blood tests when applying for medicare? If so, I could take a few weeks break from Rapa before they draw blood.

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#43

Oh and I had Cigna for many years through work. They were not very good. I had a torn Achilles tendon in 2017 and was out of work for a couple months. They were constantly trying to stop disability payments. They actually did at one point. Overall, I’ve been better off with ObamaCare for the last 4 years.

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#44

Same for me - first use of Rapamycin with Dr Garcia. I am hoping the compounding pharmacy he used did not submit my data into the database. Somewhat frustrating considering Dr. Garcia supplier did not use enteric coated rapamycin and its efficacy could be limited.

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#45

Nellie, Part A is hospital charges and is provided to anyone who qualifies for Medicare (having contributed via wage withholding for some number of years) at no additional cost. Part B is doctors and such, and Medicare charges you for that (currently about $174/month); if you are on SS, it will be automatically subtracted from your monthly SS check. However Part B only pays 80% of doctors’ bills, so most (many?) people buy private “Part B Supplemental” insurance, AKA “Medigap” insurance. Or you can pay for a Medicare Advantage plan, which is kind of like Medicare Part B and Part B Supplemental (plus often dental, vision, etc) rolled into one. Your Plan F is your Medigap insurance. You can change carriers for the supplemental (Medigap) at any time, but after initial enrollment (which happened when you turned 65), the carrier will qualify you based on your health, and can decline you if they wish. As you said, Part D is the prescription drug plan (not just catastrophic); it is separate from the other Parts. Hope that helps…

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#46

rwooidin3, When you sign up for Medicare at 65, you want to sign up for a Part B Supplemental policy, as well as a Part D policy, from someone like Cigna, Aetna, United Healthcare (AARP), etc. Uniquely at that initial enrollment, nobody can turn you down, nor can they require any health history, drug history, etc. And no blood tests at that time.
If you decide to switch carriers at a later date (like I’m in the middle of), for instance, to save money via lower premiums, THEN the insurers can take your health history, drug prescription data, etc. So it may or may not be wise to tell your current physician about Rapa, as she will undoubtedly enter a note into your permanent record. FWIW, there was no blood test required for my recent change of underwriter.
Thank you for your comments about Cigna; I researched them vs Aetna (my current carrier), and didn’t find any significant statistical difference in customer satisfaction levels. I happen to be perfectly happy with how I’ve been treated by Aetna; if it weren’t for the opportunity to save $100/month, I would be sticking with them.

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#47

Betty, I don’t know whether a compounding pharmacy works the same as a regular pharmacy. In my case Cigna got my prescription history from Milliman Intelliscript. Because Cigna had done that, Milliman was required to send me a copy of that report, and they have a page on their website for exactly that purpose. So I got the report and sure enough, it shows EVERY prescription I’ve obtained for the past 7 years!

At this point I’ve heard back from Dr. Green’s office, and they are sending me the letter that Cigna stated would be necessary for them to consider an appeal of my Declined status. So once that arrives, I’ll fax it to Cigna and cross my fingers. I’ll update this thread once there is any news.

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#48

I think you can safely assume that no doctor will do a Sirolimus blood test without being requested to or without having any cause to assume you are taking Rapamycin.

However, you may not want to wear your “I love Rapamycin.news” T-shirt to the doctor’s appointment though. :wink:

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#49

I thought I was helping you! My point is that Part B was not presented as an option in regards to who the provider was. It’s just Medicare - not Cigna, or United, or Blue cross. I did not sign up for an advantage plan - maybe that’s the difference. I’m happy with my medicare choices. Plan F is great - no longer offered but am grandfathered in. Do not ever pay a bill, past the Medicare expenses. Endless PT, blood tests, visits with specialists, screening, Paxlovid, and so on.

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#50

I think genetics come into play only when we don’t take care of ourselves. Otherwise, there is no way something can be passed on to someone that has a totally different lifestyle than their parent or siblings. Case in point my dad had several conditions by his 50th and my mom passed at 59. I have absolutely NEVER had, nor will I have in the future any of the conditions they had. All i do is I google stuff and then use mostly common sense to do the right things and that seems to really work well. Having said that if at some point I decide to stuff burgers down my throat like there is no tomorrow then the whole hell will break loose. For example, my sister has high cholesterol (as did my father) but she consumes like 5 lbs. of French cheese a week lol, and last time I had French cheese was on New Year’s Eve 2000. Just my two cents because I always heard the expression oh it is genetic, but to me it was an excuse as opposed to being a reason/cause. Of course, it is genetic if your father consumed two bottles of brandy a day and you do exactly the same thing. LOL
Or a better way to put it is that there is a way to prevent certain conditions even if they run deep in the bloodline.

#51

Appreciate your n of 1 experience, but genetics are very important in determining your health.

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#52

The prospect of having a medical condition is definitely determined by genetics, but as we often do in these forums, (and in real life) we are here to game the system so to speak. I.e. unless born with a birth defect, I see no possible way to get heart disease if you do everything right, i.e. exercise, eat very healthy and only the foods and drinks that are heart healthy (even if half of one’s family may have had heart attacks). Also, to me (I’m not a doctor) there is no way to get diabetes if you never consume any sugar, or sugary products, even if everyone in your family has diabetes. Not arguing obviously, but just trying to break it down in simple terms. To me is almost as saying you will get wet when it is raining even if you stay inside.

Again, not arguing whatsoever, but I would be very interested in knowing if my theory is wrong. For example, if there were studies or known cases where people that say consumed ZERO sugar (i.e. carnivore diet) they still got diabetes just because they were genetically predisposed to get it.

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#53

I agree - essentially most anti-aging strategies are confronting the modern lifestyle. (since the start of farming and cooking food). Most human paleontology science points toward little evidence of conditions like heart disease or diabetes in skeleton records.

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#54

It would be good to see an analysis of that. I have seen little on skeleton records. That which I have seen points to ASCVD existing in mummies.

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#55

My general take reviewing the journal literature is that vascular disease is not found in hunter gatherer societies. So pre-agriculture, and though some cooking, probably not even close to how we cook and format food in modern times.

Yes - mummies are rife with heart disease

A very good article, surprisingly available from the stingy National Geographic, looks more closely and with a nuanced view to whether heart disease and other modern diseases appeared before farming. See The Evolution of Diet - National Geographic

The following review article addresses my take on the topic. " Historical and archaeological evidence shows huntergatherers generally to be lean, fit, and largely free from signs and symptoms of chronic diseases."

PIIS002561961163262X.pdf (108.9 KB)

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#56

However, life expectancy was not that great. People died from other things once they got through childhoood.

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#58

It’s not that your theories are “wrong”. They’re just over simplified. Tough to come up with a simple solution to a vastly complex problem. Hard to beat nature when nature has a million year head start.
Diabetes is not caused by eating sugar, so that theory is mostly wrong. Preventing heart disease is possible but it might require starting people on statins at a young age.
Preventing some cancers also possible. Start people on frequent colonoscopies at a younger age.

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#60

Diabetes really too complex to discuss here, especially type 2. And type 1 etiology is essentially still unknown.

Type 1; In genetically susceptible individuals, exposure to one or more environmental agents (eg, viruses or foods) appears to trigger an immune response that ultimately causes destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells.

Type 2: Genetically susceptible, obesity, metabolic syndrome, lack of exercise, etc.

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#61

It’s been a while so here’s an update.
I got the letter from Dr Green and faxed it to Cigna.
A few days later my agent was able to get a response. Because the letter stated that the reason for the sirolimus prescription was treating “age-related disease”, Cigna said they still decline me until another letter could be written stating WHICH age related disease exactly. So I’ve requested a new letter with that clarification from Dr Green.
My only age-related disease is CAD.
Which Cigna already knows about.
So maybe in another month or two I’ll have more info.
Waiting with fingers crossed…

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#62

Now I’m wondering if using a prescription, and buying from a supplier in the USA is still a good idea?
The ever-watching “eye” of the PharmaKing is upon us.

That leads me going back to buying from Zydus brand from India.

How has things worked out re insurance?

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