Financial discussions/tips concerning expensive treatment

Posted by ans @ans, Nov 6, 2023

The last 2 days have seen some pertinent posts in regard to how and what to do to secure help for the expensive treatments/ the shots Forteo- Tymlos-Evenity. I am nearing a time of actually pulling the trigger on potentially taking Forteo. though I suppose Tymlos could be in the mix as well. This is my situation. I am currently with a commercial insurance company , Highmark, formerly and still connected to Blue Shield of NY. I am 66 and have got Medicare Part A, but not B. My husband is still working and will be for the foreseeable future ,unless something unforeseen occurs. In January of this year I called my commercial insurance company and was told at the time that it would cost me $ 1,989.40 per month under my existing plan- which is a high deductible plan. Then I contacted Forteo.com and went to savings and support and was told that I could pay $4.00 per month with a coupon up to 9,000 annually, which would be about 4 1/2 months ,leaving the remaining 8 months , which would cost me $17,904.00. That could be repeated for the second year using the $4 coupon for that time up to $9,000 ,again. Because the cost is so high I brought that up to my endo as I feel like cost does factor in one's decision. His response was," I don't want
you to be concerned with that as part of your decision making process.." I was perplexed how he could say that, but because I wasn't planning to do anything right then I let it go. Then on a follow up endo appt , with different dr, as my original one was a Fellow and had left the hospital to move on . Again, when I brought up the cost she said , "Don't worry, once you decide you are going to start treatment we have a person here that works with that end of things." As I look to potentially starting treatment after Christmas , and knowing that changes of insurance and all are abound till Dev 7th , wondering if I should possibly be signing up for Part B, or not? We will still be continuing our family plan as our youngest is 22 , and I believe we can carry her till she's 26.Not sure where and how to spend my energies in figuring this out OR to just let it fly with the response from the endo and trust they'll come up with something. And does, in that situation, essentially come down to what your income is ??
Any and all information is wanted!! THANKS SO MUCH for reading this to the end as I think there are lots of people out here that are grappling with the finance dilemma!!! .

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@babs10

I agree 100% and further, some insurance companies cover some medications and not others. It makes no sense to me. I, for example, have two choices - Prolia and Forteo and that's it while others have multiple options.

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It's nuts how it all works. There's no consistensy between insurers. We shouldn't have to fight to get the treatment that we need, and we should all have the same options.
I had to change my insurance this year because my last insurer only covered Prolia and oral Bisphosphonates. My current policy officially covers oral Bisphosphonates, Tymlos and Teriparitide (generic only). In the 2024 formulary Evenity is "excluded". Regardless, they approved coverage for Evenity when my doctor submitted prior authorization. Someone else in the same situation with the same policy may have been denied coverage. It's a crapshoot, and it shouldn't be. And then there's the cost. OMG! The cost.

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Everything you write is true and it's terrible. It's a broken system.

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I looked into discounts, but I'm on Medicare and the discounts I have investigated don't apply if you are on a government program. Don't ask me why.

And yes, discounts are income based to answer that question.

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Evenity is costing me $427.

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