www.incontinentsupport.org

Hello everyone. I have a friend that some here may know and she is doing some research to do a article about the cost burden of incontinence supplies and people pay for them and wither or not we have an insurance that helps with the cost. Also where are you from.
As an example, I'll go first. My first year needing full time protection, I was using 4 Depend Real Fit pull on and a Wellness brief a day. The Depends were $1.25 per brief and Wellness was about $1.21 a piece. This added up to about $6.21 a day or $2266.65 a year.
Later I needed to cut cost and began to use Abena L2 (about $1.18)during the day and the Wellness at night. This added up to around $3.57 a day or $1303.05 a year.
Currently I am using cloth and for 13 cloth diapers (day and night weight) and 10 pairs of Garywear active briefs and spent about $850. I still use disposables at work and with that figured in, this year I should spend about $951.02.
Now with all this said, my insurance covers exactly.........nothing for any of my cost. If I used catheters, it would.
I am in North Carolina in the USA.

I wear Abena M4's almost 24/7/365 and typically use 3 of them per day. The cost is about $1650 Canadian dollars per year. I have no insurance coverage for my incontinence supplies but am able to deduct some of the expense from my income tax. I'm very fortunate to have a large enough income for the cost not to be a serious problem.

With both bowel and bladder incontinence, in addition to the cost of diapers, wipes, barrier creams, plastic pants, onesies, and compression pants, I have the cost of my daily enema procedure with absorbent pads, soap, lubricant, and periodic replacement of equipment for a yearly estimated total of about $2,700! I was using premium diapers but wearing them for extended periods.

With the recent post-surgery remission of my bladder incontinence (I hope it continues), my daily diaper usage (I remain bowel incontinent) has decreased so the total will have decreased. So far I am unsure exactly how much but estimate my new revised yearly costs at about $1,800

So, my costs have decreased about $900 with the remission of my bladder incontinence. I still am trying to figure out how to justify to my wife that we now have $900 to spend annually toward some good wine and beer!

--John

I forgot to add that, obviously, I am in the beautiful Commonwealth of Virginia and insurance pays zilch toward the cost of my incontinence supplies.

--John

Reporting from Northern Illinois! Cost of incontinence in either form is high. Very high & the insurance companies know it so they generally stay away from "pitching in" toward the management of it. I'm guessing I'm in the $1400 to $1500 range every year. I've found, in my case that using low quality products end up costing about as much as the higher quality products due to the extra amount of product used with the added plus of leaks, tears, rips, bathroom time etc, etc. I have few options like everyone else but I'm also self employed. My insurance carries a $5000.00 deductible that needs to be satisfied but even then the cost of supplies aren't covered anyway. Medication does little if anything except brings on side effects I don't care for & distracts from my focus of running my small business. Also, me no work, me no get paid so unless I have something happen to me that forces me away from work any "repairs" are out of the question. In a nutshell I live with it and manage the best I can. I think little about it unless I hop on here & read what other challenges others are facing. It's a circle jerk but you play the cards you're dealt & make the best of it.

My incon is partial but sudden and often unpredictable, bladder leaks frequently, bowel occasionally. As a woman, I also need to increase my protection during days of heavy menstruation. My usage varies, but ranges from several hours to around the clock 4-7 days a week depending on if I'm going out, how long and the likely proximity of restrooms.

I use high end pull ons and liners bought by the case online for the least expensive prices I can find from reputable vendors at a given time. I also buy flushable wipes and small disposal bags, again at the least cost I can find for my preferred brands at any particular time for a few months' supply. Occasionally, I replace reusable items like fixing pants or PUL pants or try some other product. I tried cloth for a time, and still have the ones I bought, but don't find cloth works well for my particular needs, even though I would very much like to reduce the cost of disposable products and the bulk of carrying several days' supply with me when traveling. Experience has shown that because of the sudden unpredictability of my needs and physical limitations in changing frequently, I cannot use lower quality brands. My needs have, knock wood, decreased over time. In the few years I have needed incontinence products, I estimate that my related expenses have been $700-$1200 a year depending on the year.

I have health insurance, but have never attempted to have my MD prescribe supplies or have the insurance pay for it, because my level of incon varies so much, and if the insurance did pay, it probably would not cover the brands and styles that work best for me, but give me some cheap and useless brand. I pay everything out of pocket. I am in a large metropolitan area in the northeastern region of the U.S., however, I buy online from a variety of vendors in different parts of the U.S.

The veterans affairs (VA) pays for the cost of my diapers but I still buy all the incidentals out of my pocket which still adds up. When you consider the cost of 3 cases of Abena M4's, plus all the other items you use every month it doesn't take long before you reach a cost of $250 - $300 (over $3,000 per year) US dollars. I am disabled and live on a fixed income so I don't know where I would be if the VA did provided me with my incon supplies. I feel sorry for those that live in fixed income that have to purchase their own supplies. Even the cost of cloth diapers are not cheap. We have a local "diaper bank" that is 100% donation funded that primarily provides disposables baby diapers to family's in need, but they also provided adult diapers when they have incon supplies to give out.