Tx copay snafu and free for other questions

[sgabb]

Hello all, Hope it was an easy weekend for you.  I know I asked a few weeks ago about starting tx or waiting untill my wife got a job, because of lack of money,  well I decided to start the tx. I called the drug Co. that my Dr. had me set up on and they were willing to take payments on my co pay as it was in the best interest for my health.  When I called them up to ship, they told me that Hummana, my ins. co. does not deal with them, and that they only deal with one drug company for HEPC drugs.  I call them and they are ready to ship, but they need the co pay paid in full each month before they will ship.  My co pay is over $400.00 a month.  I can not afford that even if it does mean my life.  We are on the verge of loosing everything as is. I dont mean to sound like a whiner, because I am blessed to have insurance to begin with, but now that I have it, I have been told there are no programs to help me pay what portion I do owe, and that I would need to cancel my insurance.  Hummana has not answered my e mails about this yet.  Does anyone have any suggestions? Any suggestions at all would be great.  Thank you all      God Bless
                      Shawn

[sgabb]

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[sgabb]

Thanks for the responces to my post,  I am trying to keep a good out look.  Have stayed away from alchahol, and I guess it is a good thing I am not starting tx yet. Have decided to get a part time job working nights and weekends along with my regular job. will keep checking in and praying for everyone!
         Shawn

[Galen]

I'm so sorry you're having money crunches.  For now, you need to take care of yourself, eat right, get exercise, drink water, avoid alcohol and medicines that impact the liver.  Please talk to your doctor and/or the local social services organizations.  Maybe someone there will have some assistance for you.  Don't give up and try not to let it get you too down.  Remember that HCV is a disease that progresses over decades, not days.  We are here and behind you.

[sgabb]

I do Maintenance and hardware work.  Work is not the problem, its the amont of money we have coming in.  Wife can find nothing, and we are so far behind in bills, things will most likely start getting turned off this month.  I just cant afford the co pay, so no treatment.  I dont know how long you can go with out treatment, but my doc felt pretty serious about me starting.  Ah well, life goes on.   Thanks again everyone
          Shawn

[sgabb]

Hate to say it but I am going to have to give up, Wife has spent two days on the phone with no luck at all. Wife has found no job, so I will have to start looking for weekend work.  I had built up courage to do this but now it seems pointless,  I will just try and stay off beer (will be hard) and hope for the best. If by some miricle something comes my way I will let every one know... and if anyone has more Ideas, e-mail me at ***@**** best of wishes to all and I will keep everyone in my prayers
        Shawn

[Galen]

What kind of work do you do?  I have only missed one day during tx.  Not to say I didn't want to fold up into a little ball during the first few months, but I did it and now have only 2 weeks to go.

[Indiana]

You are both right.
There is a LOT of info on the net that isn't true. heck, look at some of the alternative medicine sites. Go there for Hep C and you'll come out believing that a Royal Rife Machine or chewing some herbs can cure this. There are also many misguided folks who believe that the drug companies are lying about the meds and the success rates. Lots of bad info around.
But this biopsy stuff isn't one of those bad info things. It still is the only "approved" way to get a true damage assessment. If you could get that from an ultrasound then they would give you  Stage/Grade numbers with the report. "Good" is NOT a Stage/Grade report. If you want to know the real condition then he needs to get one.
BUT....
It is not without risks and is not required to start tx. It IS useful if he needs to make future decisions about how agressive to be with this stuff if he has problems with the tx. I personally did not get one but many people...probably most people do.
The extra blood test is probably to check platelets and bleeding times to make sure he doesn't bleed to death on the table.
The doctors are there to serve us. Any doctor worth his salt should be able to clarify his reasons for anything he does medically and not just put down any info you may have.
  Stick to your guns Gal. Keep on learnin about this stuff so's you can keep an eagle eye on his condition and care. Don't just take any doctors "Word" for anything.

[giddyup]

I hope you don't give up on combo treatment.Where there's a will there's a way. You've already made the comitment I hope you see it through. Good luck in whatever you do.

[Jim55]

Indy has said it all! I went for an US and they said other than a little fatty liver everything looked GREAT. The Bx showed stage 2-3 grade 2-3 which is not so GREAT.

A Bx is the only true test for liver condition.

Since you are paying cash. Your doc may be trying to save you some $$.  A Bx could cost about $6,000.

Good Luck

[sgabb]

I called Humana this morning and asked what was up, they said they only deal with advanced drugs.com or some such name for mail order drugs. I asked if there was anything that could be done and she said nope! I then said you mean to tell me that I have to have these drugs, and can only get them cheap if I have no insurance at all and that my only recourse is to cancel my insurance if it means maybe saving my life?  her responce was, sorry I guess you will have to do what you have to do and hung up on me!  I bring home $500.00 every two weeks. Rent is $500.00, car payment is $320 and auto insurance is $130.  That leaves $50 a month for food,gas,utilities, ect.ect.  have tried some of the local food banks and such and they tell me I make too much. a friend at work suggested I sell my blood like he does,  laughed so hard tears came out of my eyes... Not sure if it was because it was so funny or so sad.  Ah well, I guess I will just have to look into other forms of treatment.  At least I have stopped drinking...      Sorry to go on like this guys, I know it is a lot worse for a LOT of other people, thanks for being here....
                 Shawn

[Revenire]

http://www.thewindsofchange.org/meds.html

The above resource may help you. There is also a pharmacy that sells generic ribavarin someplace in the eastern US. I don't know the name but someone around here probably does. If I recall the riba from this pharmacy is REAL cheap. That would help you.

Might I suggest hiding assets? My brother and his wife are in bad financial shape due to health troubles -- she has had 4 back surgeries and has to be on lots of meds, he lost his job -- and their attorney is recommending they get a divorce so they can get some kind of aid. It is that or they will lose their home etc. And, that is with the family members helping them out too!

%6&*ing insurance companies are blood-sucking scum.

[landfill]

About dry mouth:
My mouth is partially dry because of surgery for tonsil cancer and then radiation.  Without any drugs I have about 1/3 of the saliva others have.  Dry mouth was a major discomfort of the hepc tx for me.  I think that the ifn, the riba, and the antidepressants all dry you out and the combination was awful for me.  Here's my advice.  There's a drug called Salagen which helps me marginally.  It's pricey so I hope your ins covers it.  You take 3 or 4 pills/day.  There's a Biotene product called Oralbalance which is a gel.  You put a little in your mouth.  It isn't too offensive and it helps.  Finally, talk to your dentist because dry mouth can hurt your teeth.  Saliva surpresses bacteria and they take over when it's dry.  He may suggest that you apply flouride daily until your mouth recovers.

Is your nose blocked?  I use a prescription spray called Rhinocort which reduces any inflammation in my nose.  It won't help with a deviated septum, though.  If I couldn't breathe through my nose I'd go crazy.  Good luck.

[tuna]

I have a real problem with dry mouth lately and it is really disrupting my sleep. Im a mouth breather and my mouth drys out so bad i wake up and drink water but 15min later its dry and i wake again and so on and so on, im on week 10 and this just started. I cant sleep more than maybe 2hrs at the longest. Ive tried bioteen and no help. When I say dry I mean really dry!!! Its becoming very bad. My doc is playing golf or something till the 19th. Any help? I really need a good nights sleep!!!!

[reposyco]

I WAS ABLE TO GET A W88 TAX GRANT PAYS WITH INSURANCE TOO,YOU MUST TURN OVER ALL MONIES INSURANCE PAYS, AND IT IS BASED ON YOUR INCOME YOU PAY FROM 0 TO 35.00 DOLLARS ON DR.VISITS AND 5.00 FOR EACH TEST AND 5.00 FOR MEDS,CHECK WITH HEP CLINIC IN YOUR COUNTY FOR MORE IMFO.THROUGH COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT..GOOD LUCK AND DONT GIVE UP ... DELORES

[missers]

You can call Roche and see if they'll help, but I'd wager they won't.  When my husband started tx (he's doing shot #28 this Friday), I called and their "Pegassist" number and was told that they do not offer financial aid for anyone who has any kind of medical insurance coverage.  And, even if you don't have insurance, you have to have an income which is considered, by their standards, to fall on or below the poverty level.

We also have Humana and they would not offer any assistance other than to tell us not to cancel our insurance because there could be another medical issue (even as minor as a broken finger) and with no insurance at all, we'd have to pay all costs.  Our co-pay for the Pegasys and Copegus is about $350/mo.  We shopped the pharmacies (there are some cheaper than others) and restructured our budget.

IVY50, you might want to check with your insurance company, but I do not believe the maximum out of pocket includes drug coverage.  If it does, let us know because I'll change my plan lickety split.

You may ask your doctor for suggestions. Maybe you qualify for a trial? Our doctor gave us "samples" once when we mentioned we were having a hard time scraping the money together for the next refill. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[britgirl]

I don't want to use up a thread, but I have puzzling question which I hope someone can help me solve. A close friend recently found out she has Hep C.The only person she ever shared stuff with was her brother, but, while he is genotype 3a she has been found to have genotype 1. How can this be? Does this mean she may have got it some other way?

[newb]

I've been buying my compounded riba from Fisher's SPS Pharmacy for $1.50 each 200mg  capsule. It seems to be doing the trick since I've cleared the virus and the riba has destroyed all my red blood cells. Their number is 888-347-3416 and they have free next day shipping.

When Roche was giving away 12 weeks of Pegasys to the first 15,000 people, I called and was told it was all gone. I called my doctor, in despair, and they checked with the local Roche rep and were told I would be supplied the whole year's worth of Peg for free. I think this may have happened because my doc, a GI  with many hep c patients, hadn't yet prescribed Pegasys before and they wanted him to start using it. So, call your doctor about getting free drugs. It might make a difference if the doctor's office asks for the Peg, instead of you.

Good luck!

[_sherr]

I asked a few questions last week and now I have more. My husband Billy diagnoised with 1A-Viral 9 million...Scan is good..But I had to beg for a biopsy unknown to my husband who thought the scan said it all,Thanks to u all I ordered a biopsy. He drank like a fish 20 years but hasnt in 3 months. The nurse couldnt pronouce cirrosis...after telling them we didnt have insurance she says ok we can do a biopsy but he needs another blood test. I lost it on her told her look we are paying cash and have a long way to go why didnt u order the biopsy with in 30 day period. well Doc thinks he doesnt need one since the scan was good.I say look im investigating this and a biopsy is only way to tell.Hubby is a denial freak so he was ready to go with all that.You all have taught me better, Doc says your wife spends too much time on internet and most of that isnt true.Help me out here am i a freak or what i read here is the truth. YES TO BIOPSY!!!!Thanks yall for educating me....more to come Im sure...Sher

[AK - Hepper]

Sounds like ya'll need a new doctor

[landfill]

Generic riba is available from "compounding pharmacies".  They buy the drug in bulk, put it in capsules and sell it at a fraction of the price of the branded drug.  I don't know what risk you may be taking but I've never seen anything negative on the net about it.  There was a long article in a hep magazine about it.  It's at
http://www.hepatitismag.com/archives/default.asp
Scroll down the list to near the bottom.

Has anybody here used generic riba?

[paradox]

Biotene makes a lot of products for dry mouth --- moubhwash,toothpaste, artificial siliva and gum

I swich the mouthwash everytime I get up to use the bathroom---
works very well for me....

target amd walmart sell the mouthwash and toothpaste for a good price

for the other products try www.dentaldepot.com

[giddyup]

sgabb,If you can find a place that conducts research studies you might be able to save quite a bit of $.

[jevs2]

I did shot 2 last Friday. Yesterday my gums were bleeding on and off all day. My blood work shows low WBC and Neutrophils but everything else was normal. Have stopped using electric toothbrush. Any suggestions? Best wishes, Joanna.

[Galen]

While an individual may be infected with more than one genotype, all of the genotypes are actually different viruses and he is not the source of her infection, nor she, his.