Coping With More Than One Medical Condition

The following story is about Lynn, a 41-year-old member who is participating in the First Health® Care Support Program.  She has several chronic conditions: asthma, diabetes, chronic bronchitis, lupus, and sleep apnea.  On top of all that, she works over 50 hours a week and has a family to care for.  Here’s what Lynn had to say about her experience with the First Health® Care Support Program.

"It’s very confusing dealing with so many medical problems.  Sometimes, I even forget what I have!  I found out about the care support program when First Health sent me a letter in the mail.  My first thought was that I was costing the insurance company too much money with all my illnesses.  But when I called and spoke with a care support nurse, I realized that it had nothing to do with money.  They just wanted to make sure I was getting the right treatment.

“My nurse case manager helped me to make a game plan with my doctor.  For example, I was just concerned about getting over my bronchitis for the moment, but she was interested in making a plan for the long run so that I didn’t keep getting it.  She told me specifically what kind of questions I should ask my doctor so that I got the right care and didn’t keep getting sick. Another time, when my sleep apnea began to give me trouble, First Health helped me get a C-PAP machine, which is a machine that helps me to sleep better.  I spoke to my nurse case manager about it on a Thursday evening, and I was able to pick up my own C-PAP the very next day.

“I’ve never had a health benefits management program like this before.  This is by far the absolute best program to have because both my nurse and I have the same goal, which is to fix my health problems. First Health helps me to be a better consumer of my health care, and I am more informed now about my conditions than ever before.”