Aa
END OF A CR... WEEK
Well, maybe not the whole week , but I am glad it is over.
First, Yolanda-the-butcher drew my weekly CBC. What a nightmare. She is a poker and a jabber and a musher. I ended up with a blood leak under the skin about 1" x 3" and she still ended up having to use the other arm. There is only one vein that she has success at. I am not saying my veins are easy but some of the other phlebotomists there are superb. However for the last two weeks it has been Yolanda the butcher. No more. I am going to say no Yolonda from now on.
All week my specialty pharmacy has been trying to renew all my rx's by year end because BCBS is forcing me to use their specialty pharmacy after 01/01/12. I am mad about this. I like my specialty pharma and it is the one the doctor uses all the time. They sent a nurse out in advance to teach with a dummy Redipen, a nurse calls me once a month to see how I am doing, and they have been great about the deliveries. When the doctor's office dropped the ball and didn't rx the Procit for two weeks after the doctor ordered it, they had it to me the next day after we figured out the problem.
This week they were trying to fill the Procrit and Neupogen and BCBS told them my policy changed on 12/14 and that those injectibles were now under my medical plan, not the rx plan and I would be subject to the $2,500 deductible and then 20% of the balance. I checked my plan book and it appears that is correct. I think they were paying under the copays in error and just discovered it. So I am going to tough it out til the end of the year and not order until 2012. Not paying up my deductible for 20110on 12/15. I will be short Procrit by 1 shot and okay on the Neup but I think it will be okay. Then next year, instead of $40 copays, I am looking at about $2,900 for January and $750 a month thereafter until another $3000 is paid. Oh joy.!!!!!
Soooo I am glad this week comes to a close. I hope this weekend is better. We are going on vacation on Sunday for a week and I am looking forward to the r&r.
frijole
Then I still have to deal with the issue of the pharmacy change. I have coupons for Victrelis and PegIntron so I do not have to pay any copays. All I pay for is the Ribapak. It is going to take a few more hours on the phone to get all of that straightened out -- and that is so hard at the office, getting all these phone calls and closing my door to talk.....
First, Yolanda-the-butcher drew my weekly CBC. What a nightmare. She is a poker and a jabber and a musher. I ended up with a blood leak under the skin about 1" x 3" and she still ended up having to use the other arm. There is only one vein that she has success at. I am not saying my veins are easy but some of the other phlebotomists there are superb. However for the last two weeks it has been Yolanda the butcher. No more. I am going to say no Yolonda from now on.
All week my specialty pharmacy has been trying to renew all my rx's by year end because BCBS is forcing me to use their specialty pharmacy after 01/01/12. I am mad about this. I like my specialty pharma and it is the one the doctor uses all the time. They sent a nurse out in advance to teach with a dummy Redipen, a nurse calls me once a month to see how I am doing, and they have been great about the deliveries. When the doctor's office dropped the ball and didn't rx the Procit for two weeks after the doctor ordered it, they had it to me the next day after we figured out the problem.
This week they were trying to fill the Procrit and Neupogen and BCBS told them my policy changed on 12/14 and that those injectibles were now under my medical plan, not the rx plan and I would be subject to the $2,500 deductible and then 20% of the balance. I checked my plan book and it appears that is correct. I think they were paying under the copays in error and just discovered it. So I am going to tough it out til the end of the year and not order until 2012. Not paying up my deductible for 20110on 12/15. I will be short Procrit by 1 shot and okay on the Neup but I think it will be okay. Then next year, instead of $40 copays, I am looking at about $2,900 for January and $750 a month thereafter until another $3000 is paid. Oh joy.!!!!!
Soooo I am glad this week comes to a close. I hope this weekend is better. We are going on vacation on Sunday for a week and I am looking forward to the r&r.
frijole
Then I still have to deal with the issue of the pharmacy change. I have coupons for Victrelis and PegIntron so I do not have to pay any copays. All I pay for is the Ribapak. It is going to take a few more hours on the phone to get all of that straightened out -- and that is so hard at the office, getting all these phone calls and closing my door to talk.....
Yes a good kinda flash back! Reading posts and threads with the ole people helped me make it thru the torture of treatment and had many laughs too! I guess there were some good parts to the tx days... :)
Must be a flashback to the past, goof, strator, nygirl. Old friends that stick by each other....... Very cool
Goofy Me-Lad!!! Yup, here I be: somewhere on the outskirts of Oz. Polishin' swords, oiling armor, & studying the new weaponry for engaging the dragon. I hope he wakes in the middle of the night, unsure what woke him, but sensing something foreboding stirring in the wind, back across the land where he wreaks his hep havoc.
Just what, for cryin' out loud, has Sir Goofmaster been up to besides tongue & cheek discourses on the state of fashion in the ornithological world. What's the state of your world fella?
Just what, for cryin' out loud, has Sir Goofmaster been up to besides tongue & cheek discourses on the state of fashion in the ornithological world. What's the state of your world fella?
hi bean, so glad to read that you're going on vacation. with all the s**t going on with insurance and such you need to get away and rejuvenate! have a relaxing time. peace, belle
All
I am still in the process of working out these injectibles. My old hematologist from my first treatment has agreed to do them in her office and they are supposed to run my insurance to see how it will be covered. She still needs some orders from the hepatologist so I am hoping to get a shot of procrit this week. I have my appt with the hepttologist on Monday so I will pick up the orders/rx then. HGB holding at 10.7 so that is good.
I actually only did one shot of neupogen and my ANC has stayed over 1000 for a month so I still have 3 shots in the fridge.
goofydad - we are a bunch of weirdos, to be sure, but I think we would flunk fashion!
I am still in the process of working out these injectibles. My old hematologist from my first treatment has agreed to do them in her office and they are supposed to run my insurance to see how it will be covered. She still needs some orders from the hepatologist so I am hoping to get a shot of procrit this week. I have my appt with the hepttologist on Monday so I will pick up the orders/rx then. HGB holding at 10.7 so that is good.
I actually only did one shot of neupogen and my ANC has stayed over 1000 for a month so I still have 3 shots in the fridge.
goofydad - we are a bunch of weirdos, to be sure, but I think we would flunk fashion!
Wow Frijole, those are some serious deductibles and co-pays. I remember a long time ago having great medical and rx that had cost less a year than the yearly deductibles nowadays never mind the yearly rates. Hope it all works out for you. I'm not really looking forward to going out and finding insurance right now, but it's been risky enough the last 2 years without any.
Back 9 years ago I had waited a year to qualify for insurance at a company that was sending me out to Fortune 100 corporate clients. When I finally qualified they wanted me to pay $800prm and then told me I'd have to go to NY drs because they had none from CT on their plan, or pay out of pocket.???so what were they covering for the 8 large?
Back 9 years ago I had waited a year to qualify for insurance at a company that was sending me out to Fortune 100 corporate clients. When I finally qualified they wanted me to pay $800prm and then told me I'd have to go to NY drs because they had none from CT on their plan, or pay out of pocket.???so what were they covering for the 8 large?
What makes for a good bird watcher? Color coordinated birding togs? Do you get numerically graded on how you weild your field glasses? "I say Jules, a prominant chin point and I liked the way he flared his elbows as the sapsucker felew by. I'd say the judges migh go 9.8 on that one."
Sorry about the copays Beanie. That *****. But probably not as much as itchy hemorrhoids...
Sorry about the copays Beanie. That *****. But probably not as much as itchy hemorrhoids...
I am so sorry to hear of the change in pharmacies. That happened to me in November. I started with a specialty pharm who had me from 9/1 to 11/2 then Aetna, says oh no you must come with us. Those amounts sound like they are way too much. Is this the amount with the copay coupons?
Again, really sorry, what a mess. I think that is why I had the medication problems because I was switched two months into tx
Good luck
Take Care
Dee
Again, really sorry, what a mess. I think that is why I had the medication problems because I was switched two months into tx
Good luck
Take Care
Dee
evangeline - yes just being away should be fun. We are going down to the valley - the southern tip of Texas - to do some birdwatching (I am not very good but hubby is) so there will be lots of walking and lots of sun and mosquitos. I will be careful in the sun -- promise
OH - I don't keep up with astrology probably since my SF days, but I do remember Mercury in retrograde. That has got to be it. When I used to have my blood drawn in the hemotologist's office they used the butterfly. I think LabCorp is too cheap, actually, but I will start requesting it again.
flcyclist
I need to find out if my plan would work out that way but I really do like doing the shots at home. Last time I used a hemotologist and got all my bloodwork done there but still did the shots at home. I will do some checking.
can do -- cr.... is crappy. I just didn't want them to star it out. I don't know where the boundaries are! me and mr bean will have fun - thanks.
aquisi - boy each plan is so different it is hard to say -- and my company is BCBS of Texas. SC is probably different. In 2005-6 with BCBS I paid $60 copays for a month of Neup and Procrit and did them at home. But now since my plan appears to have changed it might be cheaper for me to go to the hemotologist once a week -- I am just not sure if the CBC and shot would be included but I intend to find out. I guess you just have to have a doctor's office run a claim to find out.
Pro - hay if those penny stocks will pay for my treatment maybe I should check them out. No, I really don't have much success at that. My strategy seems to be buy high and sell low!
OH - I don't keep up with astrology probably since my SF days, but I do remember Mercury in retrograde. That has got to be it. When I used to have my blood drawn in the hemotologist's office they used the butterfly. I think LabCorp is too cheap, actually, but I will start requesting it again.
flcyclist
I need to find out if my plan would work out that way but I really do like doing the shots at home. Last time I used a hemotologist and got all my bloodwork done there but still did the shots at home. I will do some checking.
can do -- cr.... is crappy. I just didn't want them to star it out. I don't know where the boundaries are! me and mr bean will have fun - thanks.
aquisi - boy each plan is so different it is hard to say -- and my company is BCBS of Texas. SC is probably different. In 2005-6 with BCBS I paid $60 copays for a month of Neup and Procrit and did them at home. But now since my plan appears to have changed it might be cheaper for me to go to the hemotologist once a week -- I am just not sure if the CBC and shot would be included but I intend to find out. I guess you just have to have a doctor's office run a claim to find out.
Pro - hay if those penny stocks will pay for my treatment maybe I should check them out. No, I really don't have much success at that. My strategy seems to be buy high and sell low!
PS: as a diversion, the search also yielded a number of hits for a penny stock-
Unilife Corporation (UNIS) and a few pump reports by Jefferies and Morgan Stanley. 9.4% short interest, seems some do not agree with it's prospects :*)
(and no, I'm not a pay for sway poster (vbg))
Unilife Corporation (UNIS) and a few pump reports by Jefferies and Morgan Stanley. 9.4% short interest, seems some do not agree with it's prospects :*)
(and no, I'm not a pay for sway poster (vbg))
Sorry to hear about your insurance costs frijole. The shift from RX plan to medical for injectables has been the trend for sometime now.
A quick search using the words "injectable drugs (biologics) and growth"
will yield "fastest growing " in almost every return.
Best of luck, pro
A quick search using the words "injectable drugs (biologics) and growth"
will yield "fastest growing " in almost every return.
Best of luck, pro
Hi, have a question, I remember in 2003 when I was doing the pegasys/rv I was sent a shot of Procrit to do at home, are they still doing that or do you have to go to a hematologist to get it done? I also have BC/BS.
Hi ya bean, btw whats a cr... week mean?
I know during tx i sure had some crappy weeks.... Hope you an Mr. frijole have a good time....:)
I know during tx i sure had some crappy weeks.... Hope you an Mr. frijole have a good time....:)
Sounds like that vacation can't come soon enough. Hope you enjoy the time away and forget about things for a few weeks.
I've had a few issues at the hemotologist office with the vampires. They are actually very good and my veins are an easy target, but one dropped something on the floor once and picked it up with gloves on to throw away. Sorry, but during the blood draw, if someone touches something dirty, new gloves before you touch me or the needles again. She did it again several weeks later and had to remind her again, grrrr.
Regarding the insurance issue, I'm not sure if the following would apply to your situation and insurance policy. They are all so different. Under my plan I pay 25% out of pocket for all injectables including procrit and neupogen. Since I've been going to the hematologist, I pay a $50 copay for the visit to the specialist, but nothing additional for the neupogen shot. If it was both neupogen and procrit it would still be $50, which is much better than 25% of the meds. This also includes running a cbc for each visit and the doctors appt when needed. Something to consider if your plan allows.
Enjoy the trip.
I've had a few issues at the hemotologist office with the vampires. They are actually very good and my veins are an easy target, but one dropped something on the floor once and picked it up with gloves on to throw away. Sorry, but during the blood draw, if someone touches something dirty, new gloves before you touch me or the needles again. She did it again several weeks later and had to remind her again, grrrr.
Regarding the insurance issue, I'm not sure if the following would apply to your situation and insurance policy. They are all so different. Under my plan I pay 25% out of pocket for all injectables including procrit and neupogen. Since I've been going to the hematologist, I pay a $50 copay for the visit to the specialist, but nothing additional for the neupogen shot. If it was both neupogen and procrit it would still be $50, which is much better than 25% of the meds. This also includes running a cbc for each visit and the doctors appt when needed. Something to consider if your plan allows.
Enjoy the trip.
The first time I did tx, I learned to request certain phlebotomists only.
Or, conversely, refuse certain ones.
I insist on a tiny butterfly, every single time.
Beano, its your body, your veins.
Put the rage to work for you!
If you believe in astrology at all, you could blame it all on Mercury which was retrograde until the 13th.
I read the aquariumage in my weekly rag, and Mercury retrograde is almost as good an excuse for sh!t as interferon.
Next week will be better.
Hugs,
OH
Or, conversely, refuse certain ones.
I insist on a tiny butterfly, every single time.
Beano, its your body, your veins.
Put the rage to work for you!
If you believe in astrology at all, you could blame it all on Mercury which was retrograde until the 13th.
I read the aquariumage in my weekly rag, and Mercury retrograde is almost as good an excuse for sh!t as interferon.
Next week will be better.
Hugs,
OH
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