Travel-Insurance
Sat, July 10, 2010 12:00 AM
Does someone have advice about Remicade treatment administered in Israel to a U.S. citizen. My child, who requires Remicade every 8 weeks for Crohn’s, is traveling from the U.S. to Israel for 10 months, for study. The problem is the out-of-network cost for Remicade, as stipulated by Humana, my insurance coverer. The cost of Remicade is about $2,000 per vial and out-of-network reimbursement by Humana is less than $200 per vial. Since multiple vials are required, treatment in Israel is cost prohibitive. I talked to Centocor, the manufacturer of Remicade, and the foundation associated with Centocor, and they do not financially support Remicade treatment overseas. I’ve talked to a U.S. patient advocacy source for Crohn’s and Colitis in the U.S., and the recommendation was to switch to Humira, which is self administered. There are several notable downsides to switching, however, because switching to Humira clearly does not always work. Then, if needing to switch back to Remicade, there is the problem of antibodies to Remicade developing in the meanwhile. I’ve talked with a sales rep for Centocor and they came up blank with additional avenues. I just heard from an insurance agency in Israel that they are aware of others traveling to Israel who bring their own Remicade. I’m trying to follow up on this by asking to forward a message to these individuals to see how this is done, but so far no response or maybe my message was not even forwarded. I've Emailed CCF of Israel, but so far have not received a response from them, either. Also, I've been told by several agencies that overseas insurance can not be purchased for this pre-existing condition and in particular for its regular treatment. In the meantime, I’ve talked to Humana, again, and all I still get is “no way”. Perhaps I'm talking to the wrong person at Humana. In any case, any ideas? Thank you.
rapopormJoined Jul 10, 2010
Thu, October 07, 2010 10:51 AM
Reply posted for Lorik.
Well, it really hasn't worked out. There was no response from the Crohns and Colitis society in Israel, there was no further response from an insurance company who we were going to get overseas travel insurance from, who initially purportedly said an individual they insure came to Israel with their own Remicade. I found this to be rather dubious, since Remicade needs to be kept at a particular temperature and there is no carrier which will guarantee this. Moreover, it is difficult to maintain Remicade at a particular temperature in a Styrofoam box. Also, it's not clear whether one would even be allowed to purchase the Remicade and take it with oneself. I stopped asking when I realized that the temperature issue could not be reasonably overcome. And, who wants their child infused with Remicade of questionable consistency, particularly if something were to then go wrong- questions of liability would be moot. The US foundation set up to subsidize Remicade use only subsidizes its infusion in the US, and not overseas. We have decided that the easiest and cheapest way is to fly our child back to the States, for the varying costs of $1,500-$1,800 per flight every 8 weeks, as compared to the $3,000+ some odd dollars in Israel. There is the down-side of missed time overseas and hassle, but that's the way it has unfortunately worked out. If you have found some vantage point, I'd be happy to hear about it. I can also send you the specifics that we worked out for infusion in Israel.
rapopormJoined Jul 10, 2010
Wed, October 06, 2010 7:13 PM
Reply posted for rapoporm.
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lorikJoined Oct 6, 2010
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