costs interferon nyc - help

[didune]

We live in New York city and are looking for a way to do the interferon treatment. Our health insurance is only upgradeable next April and we only have 3000$ worth of coverage on our plan. Does any one have any advice how we can get medication in NY, or some place that would help us?
we do not know the costs here of the drugs, does anyone know??
thanks for help.

[Michelle867]

I am going thru the same thing.  I have a $400 copay with my insurance.  While I am thankful that they pay that much I simply cannot afford the $400.  I have found the following numbers of companies that help with Pegasist:

Rousch Pegassist Resource Center  877-734-2797

Healthwell Foundation  800-675-8416

Chronic Disease fund 877-968-7233

Shared Solutions  800-887-8100

Mnord  800-634-7207

I have called the Rousch Pegassist Resource Center and they were very helpful..Of course I don't know yet if they will help or not (should find out this week).  They do base it on your last years taxes and family size so that may or may not be a factor for you.  As someone else posted if you can get into a clinical trial they will pay for the meds then.  

Good luck.
  

[hotnicks27]

Well, Im not a doc obviously, but 120k vl is very very low and with no liver damage, waiting is for sure a possibility but I would consult with a doctor.  My baseline vl was 200k and my doc said that was very very low, so 120k is even lower.  Also geno 3 is much easier to treat than what I have, which is 1a.  From what Ive heard, 2 and 3 are more popular in Europe and abroad, while 1 is far more common in the us.  May be wrong on that though.

[didune]

thank you all for this advice. We do have insurance with united health but the pharmacy is limited to 3000$, if we know a pharmacist hotnicks27, do you think we could get the medication through him? my husband has not yet tried any form of medication, he was diagnosed only 2 weeks ago with Genotype 3. The doctor says his viral load is 120,000 - we did not need to do a biopsy, a sonogram shows there has not yet been damage to the liver. Is this a possibility to wait? we can upgrade next april.  We of course are dealing with all the implications of finding out ect..this is very difficult for us right now, and I deeply thank you all for the support and advice.

[hotnicks27]

I have insurance but no prescription, and my gastro set me up with a pharmacy.  I get shipped the meds once a month.  After the first three months, I began receiving bills for $100 for each month of treatment.  I called the pharmacist and he said he would take care of it.  Last week I received a letter stating that all my copays were paid due to "financial hardship", which I dont actually have, I make an ok salary.  But making an ok salary doesnt mean I have $1200 extra/year, especially in these economic times.  Dont know if the insurance or Roche took care of the bill, but someone did and I thank my lucky stars they did.

[AmeliaFufu]

I told you didune this site is super and the people are great aren't they.  You asked, and they came back with hope, words of wisdom, a helpful hint and most of all phone numbers!!!  There is always a way out of nowhere.  Just keep asking questions and your community will come to your side.
Positive Energy Sent Your Way,
AmeliaFufu

[desrt]

Commitment To Care   [phone]

PegAssist  [phone]

[AmeliaFufu]

Sometimes you can get into a clinical trial if you have failed on interferon.  I thought in a previous post that you had stated past treatment had not worked.  Cornell University often does clinical trials if you are ready to look that direction.  Drugs like TroVax formerly used to treat certain forms of Cancer are showing great promise in other clinical trials to treat HCV.  But I'm sure other people in your area might be able to show you better paths.
AmeliaFufu  

[nygirl7]

my course of treatment with tests and exams cost somewhere around $200,000 for 72 weeks.

Procrit (one of the sometimes necessary backup drugs to taking interferon) costs $6000 a box - and there are only ten shots in side a box, which I was doing twice a week.

It would be best to wait until you can upgrade your insurance for certain - while the drug companies (ie: Comittment to Care) will help they generally help those without any insurance or who have been denied, so they would be worth a call but - just remember there are other "hidden" drugs that we sometimes need which you would have to pay out of pocket for.

Insurance.............we've all been on that merry go round........they suck (excuse my french)

[jdwithhcv]

These are the prices I find on my prescription docs.

28 day supply:

Ribavarin     $1073
Peginteron  $1694

[Andiamo1]

I don't know the cost, but I am sure it is north of 3000 per month.  There is a program called "Commitment to Care" that will help you with the  cost. Perhaps you can find it using google.