here is the letter that my derm wrote for me. apparently it worked as my home unit was approved by my hmo without a fight. also, i was told during my last uvb session that i was the talk of the derm's office (4 mds in the office) apparently they did not anticipate the ease in which this went through.
date
address of hmo
re: misales
to whom it may concern,
I am presently following misales. he is a patient with severe psoriasis of his trunk and extremities. he has had psoriasis for several years now. he has actually tried multiple medications including ebrel, soriatane and most recent systemic narrowband uvb treatment to which he has responded nicely. it has required him coming 4 times a week to clear and at this point to maintain his improvement. because of the severity and extent of his condition he will most likely require ultraviolet light therapy intermittently for the rest of his life. I feel at this point prescribing a ultraviolet light therapy spectra 724sp would be appropriate so he may be able to maintain a state of remission to get the treatment he needs. this unit is fda compliant, easy and safe to operate under my supervision. misales is a policeman and precludes regular visits to our psoriasis treatment unit because of hours of operation. i feel that would be in both misales interest and cost effective for you the insurance company in pursuing the ultraviolet light source for treatment of home use. i would be happy to forward any material to you or answer any questions you may have.
sincerely
dr. seuse, md
I hope this may help others who are pursuing a home light unit. I'm sure that my doctor is now better equipped for others who may benefit from home phototherapy as well.

thank you brad.
have a good day all
richard :D

I have Tri care. And I have been told that I cannont get a home box because I live close enough to a post. I have to go to the Derm three times a week. 45 mind drive one way. And it is alot of gas, plus hassle, with Abby and all.
I am wondering if anyone knows how to find out if I can get a lightbox. Or where I can find info out about tricare standards. I am new at this and my hubby "doesnt have time" I get told.
Thanks

hi krys
i can't help much but if you contact the npf thay will help. there was a thread on boxs but i can't find it. i keep looking for it.
have a good night
richard :D

heres one link i found.

Krys, heres what I know. First, your insurance needs to cover Home Medical Equipment or (HME) in insurance lingo. You may have a copay with this, I have 20% copay, it seems like a copay for these items is not uncommon. You can call your insurance and ask them all of these questions.
i know that UVB treatments are not fun to take the time to go to, a lot of driving and time to get them. One thing that I can tell you is that I did it and it worked really well for me, I think this helped convince my doc and the ins that it was a good buy. I don't think insurance companys are that bad about these things when they know they will work or have worked. I think what they fear is that they buy you one and then you change therapys or don't use it at home. Well thats how I feel about it, but you must remember that how you feel about it has nothing to do with the business of insurance.
#1, you need the coverage. #2. your doc needs to prescribe the unit and write the letter of medical necessity. My letter was pretty easy for him as he had been seeing me since P started and was extremely happy with our course of UVBnb. My P has never been better. Thus, the language of the letter, it wasn't a "guess or try therapy" for him. #3. if you have the HME coverage, you insurance may have a policy on who may or may not get them. They may then deny you the coverage based on that. If they deny it, then I recommend that you start the complaint process with them. For my HMO it is called a "grievance".
What worked for me is being a pain in the butt. I made a lot of calls, filed previous grievances, held my docs and insurance to task. Followed everything up. Asked a lot of questions. Just became determined to get one no matter what. You can call the NPF for assistance, speak about it on the boards, call your insurance, email your insurance, pester your derm and primary care doc.
Also, being that you got a millitary Id, I'd even condsider going down to the base and walking into the legal department there and asking some questions to see if you can get help. Seems to me that someone on that base would be concerned for you considering your husband is deployed. If you can't get anyone there, then I'd rip off a letter to the ranking officer in your husbands chain of command that is still in his office stateside. A lot of these guys jobs are PR and I think that they geniunely care about your well being. I'll tell you this that if the right rank in the military gets a hold of your situation, certain things can happen magically.
Well thats my ten cents, about all I got left.
How are you doing with your UVB Krys, tell us about your treatment. IE, what kind of unit, length of time in the box, etc...Just curious if your derm is putting you on soriatane with the light. My derm wanted to put me on soriatane, he said uvb works a lot quicker. I couldn't however as I threw out some high triglycerides in my blood test.

Thanks for the info. My husband is deployed to San Antonio. Some people keep getting that confused. Luckily he stayed state side. And we got to accompany him here. But I am not to be seen or heard while here. Because it isnt supposed to be a acompanied deployment. But the officers are turning their heads and letting families "visit" the entire length of the deployment.
so as for talkin to any of the law offices on post to ask question I cant do that. Although I am looking for a web site for Tri Care so I can ask ?. I have tri care prime, so I am not supposed to pay for any co payments or charges. So I guess I will have to see what happens.
I am in a stand up box. And I go up 15 somethings every time. My longest time in was 59sec's on Wed. I personally think I need to be in the box alot longer than that. It isnt worth my time to drive over there. And so far I have had 6 treatments. And havent seen any imporvment.
How long did it take you all to see imporvment?

Plus I see a nurse who puts me in the machine. She is a complete Witch with a capital B! She doesnt explain anything. And she is the only one who runs the machines. So I dont know what to do. I cant report her, because I am not supposed to be seen or heard by any of Jesse's higher ranking officials. What do you all purpose I do?

OK Krys, your nurse does not supervise the uvb treatments, only your derm does. She may tell you differently, but it is totally up to the derm how long you are in there.
If you look at my past posts on uvb It will explain how long I was finally in there for. Personally, I would ask the derm for a more agressive treatment. It is true that you need to start slowly, but, I think to slowly might discourage some from keeping it up. Just keep it up and they will get longer and stronger....hopefully, after a short time, you will see the good effects of uvb. I would highly recommend that you moisturize yourself to death as well. Baths and daily moisturization, just do your entire body, don't worry about the p areas. I think your skin will react better to the light. There is a product called Albolene. I can buy it otc at Rite Aid, however, Walgreens doesn't have it. A big can is about $12.00. My derm told me to use this. Once again, not sure what my trick was, but I never burnt, just got a little pink on ocassions. It is true with narrow band that you will see the peak of any burning about 6-12 hrs. after you get treated.
I would ask for the derm to bump the time and energy up a little. You will know if it is too much because you will get sunburnt or real pink if it is too much.