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Karla Flores

Insurance RX

"I've Got You Covered From Diapers to Depends®!"

What EXACTLY is Hepatitis?

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Ask around to see what people think hepatitis is and you’ll probably find out most of us don’t know. Overall, hepatitis is a disease characterized by inflammation of the liver, the largest solid organ and gland in our bodies. We need to keep our livers healthy because they perform over 500 essential tasks.

In general, livers “clean” out toxins while they help digest food and absorb essential nutrients. Understanding hepatitis in its numerous forms (A, B, C, D and E) is the best way to prevent contracting these potentially fatal diseases.

Estimates show that 30 million travelers a year visit destinations considered high-risk for hepatitis A and B. Both are vaccine-preventable.  Hepatitis C and D are usually spread through contact with infected blood. The E form is uncommon in the United States and rarely results in chronic hepatitis, but that doesn’t make it harmless.

World Hepatitis Day is a global effort to raise hepatitis awareness.  The Hepatitis Foundation site shows you how to prevent, diagnose and treat hepatitis as early as possible. Only through education can we control and eliminate hepatitis altogether.

Cost of Diabetes – Insurance, Insulin Prices and Complications

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Diabetes is an expensive disease. Americans diagnosed with diabetes have healthcare costs that are 2.3 times greater than those without the disease, according to a study released this year by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).[1]

Between hospital and doctor visits, prescription medications and supplies, the cost of treating diabetes in the United States is $327 billion annually, a figure that’s risen by 26% in the last five years.

If you’re at high risk for Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, have been recently diagnosed, or have a loved one coping with the disease, here’s what you can expect in terms of its impact on your finances.

Getting the Diabetes Diagnosis

The term diabetes actually refers to several diseases caused by excess sugar in your bloodstream. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are chronic conditions that are diagnosed with one of these blood tests done in your doctor’s office[2]:

    • The simplest and quickest test, called the glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test, indicates average blood sugar for the last two to three months. This type of test is often used in free diabetes screenings at hospitals and pharmacies, too.
    • The fasting glucose test involves a fast for eight hours before your blood test is performed.
    • The oral glucose tolerance test involves several blood tests over about a three-hour period. During that time, you drink a liquid with glucose mixed in, and have your blood tested at regular intervals.
    • The zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (ZnT8Ab) blood test is used specifically to determine if you have Type 1 diabetes.

 

The Cost of Diabetes

The ADA’s recent study indicates that people diagnosed with diabetes spend an average of $16,752 per year on medical costs.[3] About half of that (57%) is related to treatment, including the cost of diabetes medication.

Insulin therapy is a common treatment for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but insulin prices have skyrocketed in the last several years.[4] Diabetes Management’s digital edition reports that the cost of insulin has increased from $100 to $200 per month to $400 to $500 per month, depending on the brand.[5]

Diabetics with no insurance must pay those costs entirely out of pocket.

Getting Diabetes Medication Costs Under Control

If the cost of diabetes medication has become out of reach for you or a loved one, try bringing your medical expenses down with these strategies:

    • Check with your doctor about an alternative if you currently use one of the newer manufactured insulins. Human insulin is an older type of medication that can be less expensive.
    • If you take a diabetes medication other than insulin, ask your doctor about a generic alternative.
    • Explore any prescription drug programs at your pharmacy which offer reduced prices for a low monthly fee.

Why Health Insurance Isn’t “Set It and Forget It”

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It would be nice if health insurance worked like a slow cooker — set it once and forget about it.

But real life doesn’t work that way.

Over the course of a single year, a lot can change:

  • You change jobs
  • Your income shifts
  • You have a baby
  • You get divorced
  • Your prescriptions change
  • You turn 65 and Medicare enters the picture

What worked perfectly last year may not be the best fit today.

 Life Changes Break “Simple” Plans

Health insurance isn’t just about picking a premium you can afford. It’s about:

  • Provider networks
  • Prescription formularies
  • Deductibles and out-of-pocket exposure
  • Subsidy eligibility under the ACA
  • Medicare enrollment timing

Even small life changes can create ripple effects.

 Why AI Tools & Online Quotes Miss the Nuance

Online quoting tools (and yes, even AI-driven systems) are great at showing prices.

But they don’t ask:

  • How often do you actually use care?
  • Are your doctors leaving a network?
  • Are you anticipating surgery this year?
  • Are you transitioning from employer coverage to Medicare?

Those details matter.

Algorithms can compare plans. They can’t understand your life.

 When Things Get Messy — That’s Where I Come In

My role isn’t just to enroll you in a plan. It’s to help when:

  • A doctor says, “We don’t take that plan anymore.”
  • A life event triggers a Special Enrollment Period
  • You’re approaching Medicare and unsure about timing
  • Your ACA subsidy needs to be adjusted

I work with:

  • Individual & family ACA plans
  • Life event changes (birth, divorce, job change)
  • Medicare transitions and coordination

Because health insurance isn’t a transaction. It’s an ongoing strategy.

And “I’ve got you covered from diapers to Depends®.

Schedule a Free Coverage Checkup

Let’s make sure what worked last year still works now.

Do Heart Attack Symptoms Discriminate Between The Sexes?

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When it comes to a pending heart attack, there’s not one warning signal that applies to everyone. Men and women share some symptoms like chest pain, indigestion and dizziness.  Shortness of breath also applies to both sexes, but in men it often feels like one can’t get enough air even when resting.

However, there are some symptoms that appear to manifest differently by sex.

Symptoms common in men are:

  • upper body discomfort or pain that includes arms, left shoulder, back, neck, jaw or stomach
  • rapid or irregular heartbeat
  • breaking out in a cold sweat

Symptoms more common to women are:

  • anxiety
  • sleep disturbances
  • unusual fatigue lasting for several days or sudden severe fatigue
  • jaw pain or pain that spreads up into one’s jaw
  • upper back, shoulder or throat pain

The most important thing for you to know is what’s normal and abnormal for your body. Even if you’re not sure any of these symptoms are warnings, get emergency care right away. The best way to recover from a heart attack is early intervention, regardless of sex.

Cardiac Surgery – How Procedures Have Evolved From Scary To Routine

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The evolution of cardiac surgery has dramatically lessened the risk of going under the knife. These days, some hospitals specialize in heart health only. However, it took a lot of steps to reach this point. Here’s a brief history…

1893 – The first successful surgery on the heart was performed in Chicago.

1925 – A young woman was successfully operated on when the surgeon opened a chamber and inserted a finger to find and feel her damaged valve.

1952 – A congenital heart defect was successfully corrected and the first cardiac surgery under local anesthesia was performed.

In 1967, the first human-to-human heart transplant was performed in South Africa by Dr. Christiaan Barnard.

By the early 1990s, surgeons began to perform off-pump coronary bypass. This means the heart continues to beat during the procedure but is stabilized to be almost still while bypass vessels are sown in.

Today numerous procedures can be performed with small incisions instead of wide openings that create that “zipper look” scar down the chest. It’s possible that in the future, the term “open-heart” will become obsolete.

 

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