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Medicare and Solvaldi
Has anyone living in New Jersey been approved for Solvadi on Medicare Part D. I called Gilead and the person there told me that Gilead will NOT give any financial assistance to ANYONE on Medicare Part D. I did some research and found out that most Part D plans DO NOT cover Solvadi and even if you do get approved through an appeal, you will still be responsible for 5% of the total cost which is exceedingly high (5% of $84,000). PAN will only pay at most $7500 of this total.
Does anyone know if there is some kind of a monthly payment plan someone can get if they don't have the money up front to put out?
Does anyone know if there is some kind of a monthly payment plan someone can get if they don't have the money up front to put out?
Excellent advice... "Some times we just have to slow down and breathe and then reassess the situation. It is not always as bad as we may feel it is. By breaking things down into bit-sized steps we can find ways through what at the beginning at appear to be the toughest of obstacles"
Really good and just what I needed to hear today.
Thank you
Dee
Really good and just what I needed to hear today.
Thank you
Dee
Hi.
I live here in San Francisco so I'm afraid I can't help you in Jersey.
Maybe someone else reading this knows of a hep C doctor?
You should say where in Jersey you are looking to find medical help with your hep C treatment.
Also you may want to check with any teaching hospitals near you as they should have a gastroenterology department or hepatitis clinic with doctors who treat hepatitis C with the newest treatments. Of course if you are near NYC they have get doctors there at the hospitals that perform liver transplantation.
Best of luck to you!
Hector
I live here in San Francisco so I'm afraid I can't help you in Jersey.
Maybe someone else reading this knows of a hep C doctor?
You should say where in Jersey you are looking to find medical help with your hep C treatment.
Also you may want to check with any teaching hospitals near you as they should have a gastroenterology department or hepatitis clinic with doctors who treat hepatitis C with the newest treatments. Of course if you are near NYC they have get doctors there at the hospitals that perform liver transplantation.
Best of luck to you!
Hector
Hi Hector,
God bless you for your work. What a blessing you are!
If you live in NJ could you tell me the name of your doctor?
Don't know if you are a praying man but I am going to keep you in my prayers. (We ALL need them---Hep C or not)
God bless you for your work. What a blessing you are!
If you live in NJ could you tell me the name of your doctor?
Don't know if you are a praying man but I am going to keep you in my prayers. (We ALL need them---Hep C or not)
Relapse is the way the vast majority of people fail Sovaldi treatment. Of course most people don't fail treatment. No treatment is 100% effective in all people as of yet. Hopefully soon there will be a treatment that will be THE CURE. Another factor is I also had advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer which didn't help and I am sure there are also genetic factors that are currently unknown.
Don't get me wrong. I have no regrets about the treatment at all. In fact it probably helped to save my life. I had liver cancer as well as cirrhosis while waiting for a liver transplant for over 3 years. While I was treating I was undetectable for 47 weeks plus up to 4 weeks after I stopped treating. I only tested once, a month after treatment. Who knows what week or day the virus came back. It didn't matter it returned. I was suppose to die from the cancer so what did I care if I died with or without hep C? It did make any difference to me. I figured when your dead your dead. The details are irrelevant. BUT what the treatment did do during the time I was treating it prevented further damage to my liver which allowed me during those 47+ weeks be eligible to do 6 different liver cancer treatments last year with the final treatment being successful thus allowing me to get my life-saving transplant. To me that is more than I could ever in my wildest dreams hoped for. I am alive and feel better than I have in at least 10 years. In some way doing that trial allows me to wake up every day and live. To me the treatment, along with my supporters, doctors, nurses all combined allowed me to live. Without any one of those things I probably would not have made it. I guess I have to say I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.
My virus so far post transplant 3 months + now has shown no signs of damaging my new 36 year old female previously hep C free liver. Should it start to cause any damage I have one of the best experts in the fields of hepatitis in the world as my doctor. She will find me the best treatment available whether in a trial or on the market and together we will win. There is no way I am ever going to let the virus damage my new stage 0 liver if I have any say in it!
But I do worry about others who aren't aware they are infected with the virus and those who are still struggling with it. So I spend my time leading a hep c support group at our transplant hospital, visiting ill patients in the hospital with life-threatening complications of the virus such as End-Stage Liver Disease (ESLD), liver cancer (HCC) and post transplant complications. I try to give back in some small way some of what I have been given by others including my very life.
Keep up the good work. Be persistent. Get the treatment. Do it as best you can. Be cured. Most importantly always live as fully, consciously and happily as you can. That is always the most important thing anyone can choose to do.
Hector
Don't get me wrong. I have no regrets about the treatment at all. In fact it probably helped to save my life. I had liver cancer as well as cirrhosis while waiting for a liver transplant for over 3 years. While I was treating I was undetectable for 47 weeks plus up to 4 weeks after I stopped treating. I only tested once, a month after treatment. Who knows what week or day the virus came back. It didn't matter it returned. I was suppose to die from the cancer so what did I care if I died with or without hep C? It did make any difference to me. I figured when your dead your dead. The details are irrelevant. BUT what the treatment did do during the time I was treating it prevented further damage to my liver which allowed me during those 47+ weeks be eligible to do 6 different liver cancer treatments last year with the final treatment being successful thus allowing me to get my life-saving transplant. To me that is more than I could ever in my wildest dreams hoped for. I am alive and feel better than I have in at least 10 years. In some way doing that trial allows me to wake up every day and live. To me the treatment, along with my supporters, doctors, nurses all combined allowed me to live. Without any one of those things I probably would not have made it. I guess I have to say I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.
My virus so far post transplant 3 months + now has shown no signs of damaging my new 36 year old female previously hep C free liver. Should it start to cause any damage I have one of the best experts in the fields of hepatitis in the world as my doctor. She will find me the best treatment available whether in a trial or on the market and together we will win. There is no way I am ever going to let the virus damage my new stage 0 liver if I have any say in it!
But I do worry about others who aren't aware they are infected with the virus and those who are still struggling with it. So I spend my time leading a hep c support group at our transplant hospital, visiting ill patients in the hospital with life-threatening complications of the virus such as End-Stage Liver Disease (ESLD), liver cancer (HCC) and post transplant complications. I try to give back in some small way some of what I have been given by others including my very life.
Keep up the good work. Be persistent. Get the treatment. Do it as best you can. Be cured. Most importantly always live as fully, consciously and happily as you can. That is always the most important thing anyone can choose to do.
Hector
Thanks again for info. You are right aboit getting easily confused I just read where you were still infected after treatment with solvaldi and Ribavarin after 48 weeks. So sorry to hear that. I don't understand what could have happened. I thought solvaldi was so great. Are you presently treating with something else?
I am glad you are feeling better. Yes, all the medical, insurance issues plus life can make us all lose track now and then. Some times we just have to slow down and breathe and then reassess the situation. It is not always as bad as we may feel it is. By breaking things down into bit-sized steps we can find ways through what at the beginning at appear to be the toughest of obstacles. Obvious you have done a lot of work already. So keep up the good work and do the same thing when you are treating. Break it down if you need to. By doing things step by step you will be treated and hopefully soon be hepatitis C free. All the work is well worth the reward!
Some of us have treated already with Sovaldi in trials and other are now treating with it, so if you have any questions or issues just ask and the folks here or on the 'Hepatitis C Community forum' where medical issues concerning hep C and its treatment are discussed will be glad to share what they know.
Best of luck with your treatment!
Hector
Sovaldi + RBV for 48 weeks starting 9/12 while awaiting liver transplant - relapsed one month after stopping. Still infected with genotype 1b.
Some of us have treated already with Sovaldi in trials and other are now treating with it, so if you have any questions or issues just ask and the folks here or on the 'Hepatitis C Community forum' where medical issues concerning hep C and its treatment are discussed will be glad to share what they know.
Best of luck with your treatment!
Hector
Sovaldi + RBV for 48 weeks starting 9/12 while awaiting liver transplant - relapsed one month after stopping. Still infected with genotype 1b.
Thanks so much Hector. I guess I was the one missing something. Although I don't know how much interferon or Ribavarin will be I am under the impression that they are not nearly as expensive and I already know that at least one of the makers of one of the Interferon drugs DO provide assistance to those on Medicare.
Wow I feel much better!
Wow I feel much better!
There are many people with Medicare coverage treating with Sovaldi. It all depends what particular Medicare plans a person has. As you know each of us can chose our Medicare plan. If we chose Original Medicare then we have the option of a Supplemental plan (Medigap) or a Part D plan. We can change our Part D plan at the end of every year during open enrollment and see what formulary the different Part D insurers have as well as what drug tier the drug is in which will determine the co-pay. Of course cost is also dependent on if a person is in or out of the 'donut hole' as well.
'Gilead will provide support to the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides assistance for eligible federally-insured and privately-insured patients who need help covering out-of-pocket medication costs.'
From PANs website...
'Hepatitis C Program Status Open
- We are accepting applications for new and renewal patients. If your application for assistance is approved you can begin receiving funding immediately.
Maximum Award Level $7,000 per year
'PAN will only pay at most $7,500.'
5% of $84,000 is $4,200. So why wouldn't it be covered by the PAN's award?
Am I missing something?
Hector
'Gilead will provide support to the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides assistance for eligible federally-insured and privately-insured patients who need help covering out-of-pocket medication costs.'
From PANs website...
'Hepatitis C Program Status Open
- We are accepting applications for new and renewal patients. If your application for assistance is approved you can begin receiving funding immediately.
Maximum Award Level $7,000 per year
'PAN will only pay at most $7,500.'
5% of $84,000 is $4,200. So why wouldn't it be covered by the PAN's award?
Am I missing something?
Hector
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