Health Insurance

[dyce]

Ha everybody,

             I am wondering,the n.p. told me she put in pre-approval for the pegintron ,riba and blood boosters. How long does this usually take the insurance companies to respond or approve it. they put in for it about a week ago.

             Mr.BB, I was wondering, how did your 6th shot go?

Dyce

[NYgirl]

Considering there is so little difference really in SVR rate...why not see if they will put through PegIntron?  You haven't started tx yet have you?

[friole]

Neupogen and Procrit sources
Amgen, Inc.
Contact: Amgen Safety Net Programs
Medical Technology Hotlines:
1-800-272-9376 (202-637-6698 in Washington, D.C.)
Drugs Available


That is the info on help for Procrit, but I have no idea if it is asset based or income based financial info they need.  I can only imagine how you feel with a 6 point drop in hgb.  So will you do the shot tonight?  I am curious about the "big bottle".  Mine come in teeny individual vials of 40,000 units each.  Are they providing you with a 3 month supply?

Hints on injecting the procrit -- Let it warm up - at least 1/2 hour before injecting.  Inject slowly, very slowly -- it burns.  I usually keep pinching my flesh while injecting instead of releasing the flesh like the inf. Both Goof and I have described an interesting phenomemon whereby the Procrit seems to meet resistance with the body (doesn't want to go in????)I have never had to change injection sites during a shot but Goof has.  That 40,000 is a lot of fluid, and I just think it takes time to filter into the fat. I use a 28 ga (bigger the gauge, smaller the circumference) 1/2" syringe used for allergy shots. (Duh, maybe that is part of my problem, maybe I should start using a 27 or something). Make sure the pharmacy doesn't give you big long needles! Also, I was doing it in the abdomen/belly and saving my legs for the Peg, but recently switched to the thigh because I think it is less sensitive than the belly.  Now don't let my scare you.  As NYgirl is found of saying, the shot is a B**** but the benifit is well worth it.

good luck tonight, friole bean

[fishdoc]

BTW, my meds are Peg-Intron, but pegasys was listed on the insurance plan also.  I called and spoke directly to Sheila, who is the one that handles the interferon stuff I think...don't have the number here, but if you call the specialty pharmacy, and ask for her, they should be able to send you directly to her..

[dyce]

Ha my friend,
            Sorry to hear your having to suffer thru. a delay like that. It's b.s. people have to wait like this! It takes a lot of thought and sifering to weigh the odds out for considering the tx in the first place. By the way Fishdoc got her meds. thru caremark' her insurance specialty pharmacy, so I don't know whats up with your problem with them. It all seems to boil down to the almighty dollar.

Thanks for your post,
                     Dyce

[TheFalcon]

Hi, I'm having a heck of a time with the insurance. I thought everything was going to be OK last week when I posted. We have United Medical Resources & we need to go thru a "Speciality Pharmacy" in which we were lead to call Caremark & caremark called back today & said the Pegasys is not covered thru them. I called Axium, they tried to help & lead me back to Caremark. The Dr's office called Caremark & faxed over the Rx's & paperwork. I will call UMR back tomorrow. Everyday I start over & over. I need to call our HR dept. Gets a little dis-heartening, at least for us.

[fishdoc]

I just switched from my husbands to mine- blue cross blue shield, and the preferred specialty pharmacy is Caremark.  Others here told me you had to contact them yourself, and it went really well after I did that-but the approval was almost three weeks...and it was a REALLY stressful three weeks at that, especially when they started telling me 10% instead of a flat rate for mail order- and I kept saying if it comes in the mail, thats mail order!!  Good luck, I hope your goes OK.  I think in most cases the "approval" is just a formality, after all we either got it or we don't...