Hey Folks! Fuzzbutt here again. I’m Ostomyland’s furry mascot and every so often I like to share some of my top tips with everyone, and this time my tip is for people who do not get their products for free on a country-based health insurance scheme (like the NHS here in the UK), or any other private health insurance scheme.

Ostomy products are not cheap and its been a long time since spending a penny, actually cost a penny (…or less). Some products can be incredibly expensive, especially the latest or newly launched product ranges.

This expense can be difficult at the best of times, and the current economic climate does not help when costs are soaring, and the economy is freefalling. Everyone is being affected one way or another, and Ostomyland itself is facing a 40% increase in it’s website costs this year because of the plummeting price of the UK Pound against the US Dollar.

Anyways, if you are struggling to afford your products, and are not particularly concerned about what makes or brands you use, then Ebay can be an excellent source of cheaper than usual products. Also, for those in severe financial difficulties you might want to contact your local ostomy support charity for details of any cut-price or even free distribution ostomy product schemes which may be running in your area. On top of this, if you live in the USA then you might like to check out one of the following:

Friends of Ostomates Worldwide-USA, Inc.
Quote from site: “Through Project SHARE (Sending Help and Rehabilitation Everywhere) FOW-USA collects new, surplus ostomy supplies from generous individuals and organizations in the United States and ships them to developing countries where ostomates do not have access to these vital supplies.”
http://www.fowusa.org/newsite/page.php?page=home

Ostogroup
Quote from Site: “Our only requirement continues to be that you do not have any form of insurance reimbursement for your ostomy products. We will ask you to verify this upon entering the program and to re-certify it each time you order from us. We do this to assure that we are serving those who are truly in need and not just those who are looking for savings.”
http://www.ostogroup.org/

If you are having financial problems paying for Ostomy products then you might also want to try contacting the manufacturers of your chosen products directly as some of them (but certainly not all of them) have reimbursement schemes. For example, here is the details of the ConvaTec program in the USA…

ConvaTec Ostomy Supplies (USA)
Call Reimbursement Helpline 1-800-422-8811.
This is where you can get information concerning reimbursement for your ConvaTec ostomy products.

On the reverse side of the coin, if you find yourself with some spare, unwanted ostomy products, and would like to donate them then contact the local Ostomy support charities to see if they want them, or ask if they can recommend somewhere for you to donate them. We also welcome posts on the Ostomyland message board offering people your unwanted products.

Alternatively, if you dont want to donate, you can try selling them on Ebay where I’m sure they will be snapped up for the reasons I’ve discussed above.

Having a stoma can be stressful enough in the early days, without having to worry about where the money to pay for the products is coming from, so I hope that this post has helped ease those worries some way. Dont forget that we always welcome your comments here, so if you have something to say on this subject please feel free to post your messages below. We’d especially love you to leave messages about any schemes in your particular area which offers free or subsidised ostomy products for your area, or even websites offering cut price ostomy products regardless of area.

Take care everyone, I’ll see you next time with another top tip!

Update: 4th June 2009
Ostomy Angels is a service based in Austin, TX, USA which offers free ostomy products to people in need. For more information on the service, or to make a donation, please visit their website.
http://ostomyangels.com/

Please Note: Ostomyland is not responsible for any website content outside of it’s own ostomyland.com or ostomyland.org domains. Ostomyland is not affiliated or connected with any of the companies or schemes featured in this post, and we have not tried or tested their services, therefore their inclusion within is not necessarily a recommendation or endorsement of their service but simply an acknowledgement of their existance. Ostomates use these companies or services at their own risk, and as with all third party products or services featured within our pages we we will not be held responsible in the unlikely situation of any problems arising from their use.