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Forteo Costs
I will be starting Forteo soon. My medicare plan D covers both Forteo brand and Teriparatide generic. My monthly cost is roughly $1500/mos. Is anyone aware of additional programs to cover the cost? I'm not eligible for the Forteo Savings card as I'm on medicare. Nor am I eligible for the Lilly Foundation program as my income is over $78k.
Second question. From what I've read so far it looks like the cost of needles is not covered in the plan costs, rather an additional cost outside the plan. If this is correct, where are you purchasing these needles and what is the ball park cost?
I'm hoping my questions will help others as well.
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If you are not on government assisted insurance you can contact Eli Lily's co-pay assistance. I was going to have to pay $4300 with insurance--with this co-pay assistance it is $4!!! I asked why this couldn't be the same amount for everyone--they had no response...
goodbones, unfortunately I'm on medicare and disqualified for Eli Lilly's co-pay assistance program.
I’m on Tymlos rather than Forteo but my medication is supplied by CVS specialty pharmacy and every month I receive the pen, needles and alcohol wipes. Just as an aside, I am on Medicare and don’t qualify for any financial assistance so my cost through Medicare part D is around $700/ month.
The whole cost part on any of these medications are ridiculous. It’s such a varied amount.
Hi ymv, thanks for your reply. What Medicare Part D plan are you on? e.g. Aetna Silverscript, BC/BS, etc. Does your plan cover Forteo? Or just Tymlos?
kristie2, I agree these costs are crazy. Especially Forteo. It's been out for over 20 yrs. You'd think Eli Lilly has recouped their original costs by now... and would reduce the cost by now!
@leeosteo , my plan is United Healthcare with Walgreens as their pharmacy. However, my doctor uses CVS specialty pharmacy and they approved out of network. My doctor only recommended Tymlos as he said that during clinical trials a side benefit was improved fracture healing. Since I had just suffered from 2 pathologic fractures in March and had a delayed healing of 1 fracture it made sense to me.
ymv, thanks for the quick response. I've been on Medicare one year. I just picked a Plan D that my husband was already on and didn't really look at osteoporosis drugs in the formulary.
So your out of network cost is really all your out-of-pocket costs? Meaning, does UHC/Walgreens Plan D have out of network costs for drugs (they cover some costs for out-of-network)? Or are you just paying the full $700 out of your pocket? Not sure I'm making sense.
Has anyone who is considering Forteo written to Marc Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs suggesting the addition of Forteo (or the generic version) to the ones they carry? Tymlos may be too new for them. Not only carry it but with an adjustable pen. Maybe we can be proactive at getting these drugs affordable.
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1 Reactionnormahorn, great idea!