Nope, not that kind. (via GIPHY)
Yep, that's more like it. (via GIPHY)
I went to a travel clinic to find out what vaccines I needed to visit Tanzania. I’ve never been to a travel clinic before, and I was impressed by the printed, bound book they created for me. It listed every recommended vaccine with the reasons for and specifics of it, and the nurse highlighted the ones she most highly recommended (Hep A and B, yellow fever, and typhoid fever). It was fantastic. There was even a section in the back about general travel safety and health concerns.
Not so fantastic was the total cost of only the most highly recommended vaccines: almost $1,000, plus another $100–200 for pills (anti-malaria, altitude sickness, and antibiotics). I asked her if insurance covered any of it, and she said usually they don’t when you’re traveling for fun. If people travel for work, she said the employers usually paid for the vaccines, but I was likely out of luck. I paid her $65 for the visit, took my impressive booklet, and left feeling defeated. There was no way I could afford the shots, but at least none of them were required, just strongly recommended. So I’d have to simply not get sick while in Tanzania.
I’m lucky to have really good insurance coverage through work, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask about the vaccines. Surprise! They are covered, just not through the clinic I visited. I got the names of some doctors who were covered, booked an appointment, and was getting jabbed the same afternoon. The new office was definitely not as personal or detail oriented as the first place, but I’m not going to turn down free shots. I got the Hep A and B combo shot in one arm, yellow fever in the other, and typhoid pills on ice that I was to start taking later. A couple days later I picked up prescriptions for malaria, altitude sickness, and general antibiotics (just in case, according to the nurse).
The next day my whole right shoulder (yellow fever) was sore, I was super tired, and my right lung felt like it was bruised. I couldn’t take a full breath for almost two days. But then again, I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, so skepticism here won’t offend me.
I was feeling fine within a few days, so I’m curious to see if the next round of shots (Hep A and B again in month) does anything to me. And then after my third and final round of Hep shots (in five months) and a test to make sure I don’t come back from Tanzania with tuberculosis (the vaccine for it sucks, apparently), I’ll basically be invincible.
All told, I'll spend $430 for the shots and pills. It's no small amount, but spread over almost six months (and coming from my HSA), it's manageable:
- $65 clinic-one fee (for a booklet and a quality consultation)
- $65 clinic-two fee (round one of shots)
- $170 in prescriptions
- $65 clinic-two fee (round two of shots)
- $65 clinic-two fee (round three of shots)
Moral of the story: it never hurts to ask! I hate dealing with insurance companies as much as the next girl, but sometimes they just might save you $1,000.
