Community Forum

 I am sure we are all in the same boat when it comes to dealing with the financial end of this disease.  The bills are starting to become overwhelming and in such a short time.  I recently lost my job but up until then I had insurance and even with insurance the medications are so expensive.  It seems that one drug is never enough and the only drug out there for us that isnt extremely costly is the one that none of use really want......STEROIDS.  I guess I just needed to vent a little about the financial burden that is placed on us.  It is bad enough that we struggle to pay for our meds and medical bills but then we get the billing companies that act as if we asked for this wonderful disease and arent willing to work with us on payments......or is it just me who seems to get the really nice ones?

 Reply posted for kimhg.

i know the feeling!!! i am 29 and living paycheck to paycheck since i was diagnosed. i have insurance but i have to pay my prescriptions up front and sumit it in to get some back (not much). this has been really *** me because i need to take them. my lialda is $385 for a one month supply. plus another $200 ish for others. it is really hard to come up with an extra $600 a month! i had to start putting the cost on my credit cards. i don't know what to do. i can't get assists because i have insurance and make to much. i live on my own and have a morgage, car payment and bill to pay and i am finacially going downwards. i stopped taking one of my prescriptions because i just couldn't afford it and i've been trying to stretch the others out as much as i can. it's very hard. something needs to change!!! the middle class is getting killed with medical cost.

 Reply posted for kimhg.

I know the feeling. I have insurance and it gets expensive with copays. I'm also very lucky I have wonderful Dr. He has been treating me since I was 22 and I'm 41 now. I only take Humria now.I've been doing very good for the past year.

I also work for a group of 11 doctors Dermatology not GI docs. We give free care when there is a proven financial hardship. I can't imagine a doctor telling you that you need to figure out how to get the drug. He/she needs to take a good look at the oath they took to become a doctor.

My job at this office is in the insurance dept. I'm the supervisor so I have been in this for awhile. I have some answers, not all, but I could find the answer if needed. Any doctor can choose to no charge, this is legal, if there is a proven financial hardship. They just can't bill the insurance get that money then write off the balance (ins fraud). So this would free up some funds for your meds.Ask for a discount, you have that right, knowing that you are uninsured and unemployeed they should only bill you the Medicare allowed amt in your state. Medicare pays the lowest allowed of any insurance company and that is what we base our discount fee on. Or they should no charge you until you get back to work.

About your coverage. You can have a lapse in coverage from one policy to another, it just can't be more than 63 days that is when they "pop" you with the pre-existing.

About your Remicade, I would very interested to see exactly why they are not covering this. I fight insurance companies everyday & help people fight to. It's all about the info to appeal, you need to know your rights on that.

 Reply posted for kimhg.

Man do I ever hear ALL of you.....the cost, the people sitting behind the desk who are non medical people telling US that we make too much money and can't get what we need! WHAT CRAP ..WE ALL need to band together, this insurance and prescription thing is OUT OF CONTROL... I have been in appeals with my ins  for 6 months and I'm SO LUCKY I WON!!!! I got the meds I needed.  And they are paying for it. I know this doesn't happen often. It should, if you pay for your insurance you should be able to get your prescriptions.

 Reply posted for Apryl.

I know the feeling........I also am trying to go into a flare and I am trying to control it myself because I can not afford a dr's visit right now.  Luckily I am getting my Humira from Abbot Pharm. at no charge because there is no way I could ever afford that med.  I need another med to go along with it because it isnt enough but there is no way I can afford to pay for it.  That 4PPA is a joke.  If you look on there I cant find any of our meds on there that they assist with.  Our dr's wonder why we go without our meds and allow ourselves to get sick........well lets see maybe because we cant afford the high dr bills and the meds.  Something more needs to be done for us!  Since I am not working now and lost my insurance because who in the world can afford COBRA there is no guarantee that when I find another job that the new insurance will pick up my condition......because why........we are all pre existing conditions.......it is called chronic for a reason.  CCFA is a great organization but hey can we take some of that money they are always trying to get from DC and put it where we need the most and need now........helping those who cant afford the meds or drs.........I think research is great but what good does it do us right at this very moment when we are suffering NOW!!!!!  I want a cure as much as the next person but I also want to feel normal for once.  I have not come completely out of this flare in almost 4 years and part of it is because I take the meds when I can afford them.  When my Dr put me on Humira I was taking 3 other meds also but quit those because of cost and when I told him that he just simply said well you should find a way to keep taking those........hmmm keep a roof over my kids heads or pay for a fortune for a drug that probably cost only pennies to produce......hard choice.  I am really fed up at this point!!!!!

 Reply posted for kimhg.

 I know this all to well. My medical bills are outrageous (even with insurance). I'm actually in the middle of a period without insurance (my husband changed jobs and COBRA is to expensive) so I have prescriptions waiting for me at the pharmacy that I just can't spend the money on right now. I have no clue how I'm ever going to pay off the hospital or doctors. Plus the remicade is usually considered therapy (that's what my old insurance said), so they wouldn't help out much with that treatment. So, I definitely understand.... maybe we all should start a petition or write letters and try to get something started for us. Any ideas? anyways... I had to vent too.

 Reply posted for kimhg.

 I truly understand, I have not worked for 7 months which means no insurance for doctor visists or meds. I am now in a flare up and really dont know what to do. The meds are so expensive and when you try to get help from the drug companies they look at what you made the last year and say " oh you made too much money" and I am like where did you get that from. There should be more help out there from the drug companies for theses expensive meds that no one can afford and like you say the only one that you can afford is the STEROIDS and I hate them. I dont know what to do.