Generic vs namebrand

[Troy992]

Thank you all for the replys, Im sorry I havent responded sooner but i have been doing alot of research and preperation for this 48 week treatment,and WOW i had no idea how much pegasys and copegus was gonna cost me monthly. my insurance lists these as a level 4 drug and I can only get it from them, I pay 25% of cost of meds.

This leads to my next question, any experinces, comments on generic vs name brand?

No generic for pegasys, but the Ribavirin (copegus) is listed in generic form that is a level 3 $50 copay vs 25% of $1132.

[GrandOak]

For Ribavirin I take the generic.  I've been told that there is no difference between it and Copegus or Rebetol.

It is my understanding that there are no generics for Pegasys or PegIntron because they are considered "biological" medications and the FDA has not come up with a means to ascertain that a generic is indeed the same as the name brand for medications in this catagory.

[Kalio1]

Pegassist and Commitment to Care are both patient assistance programs that can help you with the costs of the copays for the medications even if you do have health insurance. The number for the Pegasys program is:
1-877-PEGASYS (1-877-734-2797).
The number for Commitment to Care, the PegItron program is 800 521 7157.

It might be we worth your effort to contact them, the programs are very easy to qualify for and the people are nice to work with and fast.

[friole]

I was reluctantly forced into the generic Ribavirin after January 1, 2006.  I have found no difference between Copegsys and the generic Ribavirin made by Three Rivers that I am now taking.  They are equally yucky and both make me anemic.  So go for the cheapest.  Yep - you are right - this is a pricey treatment.
frijole

[Paris47]

I have no idea if this works, but
I just got home and had a msg from CareMark
1 800 749 2671 x 4352
Julie is the person I called back & said that
they work with ins companies on 'specialty meds'
with home delivery & lower costs.
I am on my last 4 weeks, so they called too late
to assist me, don't know any other details.
but I guess if you have time to call, they might
be able to assist. I would hate to think this was
a scam call, since she had my home # & knew what
meds I was taking.

[jakish]

You must try commitment to care to help with the cost of your meds, we have BCBS and would have cost us 5,000 out of pocket for the 24 week treatment I did, it all depends on your income we have a household income of 43,000 a year and did not have to pay one penny for the meds.

Dave.