Medication Financial Rant, Well sort of...

PR2001

I'm covered under my husband's Blue Shield plan from his job because I'm not working right now. Some of these meds are really expensive with the deductables. My hospital stays, co-pays to doctors office, lab fees because I have to have my blood drawn once a week now, are really piling up. We can only pay so much at a time and it's really taking a toll on what monies we have saved, which isn't much.

Is there some type of plan to help those cover the cost that insurance companies barely covers? Like an extra form of insurance? Confused

_________________
Living with Lupus is the easy part. Living without the ones that'll support you through can be difficult.

MARYCAIN · King of the Jungle Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 1576

There are supplemental prescription insurance programs available - the problem is most of them do not cover pre-existing conditions, so it's impossible to get coverage for lupus once you actually have a diagnosis and are taking medications. And most of the prescription assistance programs are designed for people with no health insurance at all. So people who have health insurance but high drug co-pays often have no help available. I can certainly empathize with this, even with major medical insurance my monthly drug co-pays add up enormously because of the number of med I take. Asking your doctor to prescribe generic drugs whenever possible can help keep the cost down. You may be able to get some of your drugs by mail through Blue Cross. Many doctors are surprisingly ignorant of the cost of drugs and may prescribe a high price "name brand" when a cheaper alterative is available that's just as effective. So I never hesitate to let my doctor know that cost is an issue even though I have health insurance. Some doctors have "samples" they will provide for free - my primary care doctor is great about this and provides my asthma meds and most antibiotics. So ask - if a drug is particularly expensive, your doctor may be able to call a drug rep or the manufacturer and get you a supply at lower cost. You may also need to call around to find out who has the best prices on the meds you take, because it can vary a lot from pharmacy to pharmacy. In many states, Walmart has a $4 generic price on many generic drugs, including some meds often prescribed for lupus.

Depending on where you live, some states have catastrophic medical coverage for those diagnosed with a serious health condition. You should also talk with a financial assistance counselor at your hospital - depending on your income, there may be assitance programs through the hospital that you are eligible for. If your doctor believes you will not be able to return to work, you should also consider filing for social security disabilty benefits.