copay help for peginterferon treatment

[drdetroit]

My name is Robert Rogerson, i suffer from type 1 hep. C and am going to start a research study for tretment with the PEGASYS and ribavivrin drugs. I have Blue Cross/ Anthem insurance but have a 30% copay for the injections and 40% copay for the pills, which will be about $900 a month out of pocket expence. since this is a non elective tretment i dont have a choice but to get the treatment, but i do need help paying for it. Is there any kind of program that will help me offset the copay cost for this program?

[jdwithhcv]

If you are participating in a research study your medication should be provided free of charge.

[Bill1954]

Hi Robert, and welcome to the discussion group. Sure; the companies that manufacture the drugs provide patient assistance for their products:

Pegassist (Roche Pegasys system): 1-877-734-2797

Commitment to Care (Schering- Plough PEG-Intron system): 1-800-521-7157

The assistance is income rather than asset based; give them a call and see if they can provide help. They will probably want copies of last year’s IRS 1040 forms, along with verification of copay.

Good luck to you, and let us know what you find out—

Bill