My classmate and friend, who is also the pharmacy tech where I pick up most of my prescriptions, blurted out an expletive when she saw how a one-month supply of Betaseron injections cost ($4600). Luckily my co-pay was $1 through Medicaid, which I'm eligible for so long as I remain a dirt poor student.
As much as I want to be cynical about big pharmaceutical companies, I had a $10 co-pay through Bayer's Betaseron patient assistance program when I was without insurance. It only took about a week to get approved too.
And those number reflect why I'm sure insurance companies don't look fondly upon us MSers. I think my insurance company probably hates me because I have MS, plus so much other stuff going on with me.
Yep, thank goodness for insurance. Without it, how could we afford to take these drugs????
I know the print was tiny, but the numbers were huge!
Interesting factoid tucked into their little summary sheet: those being treated for MS (if -- big IF lately -- IF I read it correctly) make up one-sixth of one percent of the "general population" from which their statistics were drawn.
I wonder what a car would cost if it was custom made for 0.17% of consumers? What about clothing made too large (or small) for 99.87% of the population? Just letting the mind wander. I have a feeling somebody's getting ripped off. I just doubt it's the drug makers, somehow.
Thank God for insurance! My company is switching providers on January 1. It will be interesting to see if I have any preexisting condition problems.
It is unreal. A lot of research and trials are subsidized by the MS Society and NIH so we should not have to pay for the Research and Development. One Cancer drug I am on the whole development was paid for by tax payers through NIH but it is very expensive as if the drug company paid for the R&D.
Alex