Insurance and the new drugs

[tjrusert]

I havent been on this forum in months.  I had a few other problems that have come up in my life and I guess I just havent taken the time to get on here. At my last visit with my GI, my Dr told that he would really like for me to try one of the new drug tx that are coming out but that he thinks that it may be a long time before most insurance companies approve it.  I found this to be very discouraging.  I know that everyone has different coverage but has anyone else heard this?  He said it will cost too much for most ppl to try it unless their insurance will cover it.  This is a depressing thought.  I would like to have this virus out of me yesterday. BTW thanks to everyone who do come here on a regular basis to answer the questions of others.  It really does make a difference.
Terry

[tjrusert]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I am a geno 1 and have been through tx with IFN/riba w/out a SVR.  So maybe it wont be too much of a battle.

[Bill1954]

Another way insurance might handle this is to require other methods to be tried first; i.e. if a patient fails IFN/riba they’d then qualify for the addition of protease inhibitors. I’m not saying this with any personal knowledge of the situation, only speculating. I think this has precedent though.

Bill

[FlGuy]

On the other hand, the new stuff will not be cheap.  Plus, they will need to make separate decisions for non-geno 1's likely.

[meakea]

Maybe I'm too much of an optimist but I truly believe that the insurance companies will get on board with the new meds.  It's as much in their best interest as ours to have us use the new meds because of the higher success rate and less chance of having to do treatment over.  

[Susan_1a_CC]

My GI doc basically said: the new drugs will become SOC and therefore will be covered but we don't know how much pain and suffering the insurance company will put you through initially.  

We shall see.