No money, no meds

Hi Frances:

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this!

I wonder..does your state or local pharmacy have any prescription assistance programs? I know there are some out there..like Wal-Mart has a program where you can get prescriptions for $3. Also, some of the prescription companies have assistance programs..you may want to look into that?

Or what if your pharmacy were willing to work out a payment plan with you? Could you afford doing $10-$20 payment a month?

Are you a part of a church? If so..maybe you could talk with the priest or minister about a charity collection?

Or as a very last resort..do you have a credit card you could use on which you could make minimum payments? I know that isn't ideal but that would be better than you being in pain and would at least afford you the opportunity to possibly look for a job if your pain is better managed. How much money do your meds cost?

Unfortunatley this happens to a lot of us. Sometimes I had to borrow money from friends to get my scripts and then they would usually ask me to give them some in return for the favor....That never happened, and they are no longer my friends. Now, I have to budget throughout the month because I know that it will be here soon. I am luckier than most, I only have to pay out $100 each time, but before I had insurance it was about $300. I know this isn't helping any, but I know that it will work out for you, it just has to..

Me.

PA-
It's just the cost of the meds that runs me almost $400/month. The Actiq alone is over $300/month. And, that is with insurance. Without the insurance, it would run me $1500/month. I've been able to make my premium payments so far (we do get the 65% match for COBRA), but it's pretty pointless when I can't afford the co-insurance on my meds.

What sucks is that IL law says that you can have up to $10K worth of jewelry & none of that counts, but heaven forbid you own a $3K car b/c you won't get any state aid. If that isn't a corrupt law, I don't know what is.

What's worse is that all seniors over 55 get free rides on the bus. There is no income cap & so there are plenty of wealthy individuals pulling in six-figure incomes working in the downtown business district who feel it is their god-given right to ride the bus to museums, fancy dinners & sporting events for FREE; meanwhile, those of us who are trying to just make ends meet can no longer afford to take the bus to work or to the store or such. If I could get my meds, I could ride my bike to the store, but what do I do about getting to work? Oh man, what a mess!

Danimal-
Thanks for the suggestions. The pharmacy plans don't cover my meds, only the cheaper ones, so I am stuck paying COBRA to keep the insurance plan I already have. If I weren't allergic to all the cheaper meds, it would have been a great suggestion. Only the larger chain pharmacies stock the Actiq & they don't agree to payment plans (probably for good reason. honestly, i'm not sure i'd be able to pay them back). I have talked to my church. No dice. I already used the "credit card payment plan". What a bad plan that was! My credit cards are all maxed out & my credit is ruined so I can't get any more. :(

Rhonda,
I can see how you would get to the point of promising to pay friends back just to get your meds for a little while. It may come to that point; I just feel like my friends are my most valuable possession & I don't know what I would do without them. They have helped me through so many tough times & I literally owe some of them my life. They are all struggling too right now, so to take what little extra money they have & know I couldn't repay it isn't something I can bring myself to right now. Still, things get harder by the day and actions I swore I would never take are seeming more and more possible by the moment. It is such a sad day when we (& I include myself) get to the point where we think of lying to friends and family to get money. I'm already in debt to my family & they won't help me out any more. It is such a tragic situation when an individual gets to the point where they are willing to sacrifice their relationships just to get some medicine.

frances,
I've got to get offline now, but I had to comment on your last paragraph. I feel so much like I've compromised my integrity because I've had to be less than truthful in a couple of instances, although not to family or friends. My cousin is paying my COBRA and I told her from the beginning I had no way of paying her back, and she understood it was a gift, not a loan. If your friends have anything extra they can give you, then be honest with them that you probably can't repay it, at least in the near future. I'll bet they know that. At least that preserves the friendship, and if they can do without the money they probably wlll. And if they can't, you won't feel guilty for taking food off their table.

I can't believe the Illinois law! Well, maybe I can, all things considered in that state (sorry!! - but you know). In PA, they don't count your car or home, BUT you can't have more than $1,000 in cash and valuables. So I know I'll have to wipe out my entire 401K (it's almost gone anyway) before I can get cash assistance. But the amounts for Medicaid and energy assistance and food stamps are higher, and I've already applied for the energy assistance.

It is scary. I know. I know. The only good thing - you're not alone. At least not here.

PaLady

Hi again:

I found a few websites for you to take a look at. The first is from the makers of Actiq. They do have an assistance program but I'm not sure if it includes Actiq..it may be worth a call though.

http://www.cephalon.com/patients/patient-assistance-programs/

Here is a website for an Illinois assistance program.

http://www.rx4illinois.org/

And a national assistance program..

http://www.scbn.org/?gclid=CKP5ioPzvpkCFQwDGgodAQL95g

If you can't find help to pay for the Actiq..maybe one of these programs could help you pay for some of your other meds to at least offset some of your costs?

I'm really disappointed that your church won't help you.

Danimal

Come visit my blog- Chronic Stimulation- a diary about living with a newly implanted neurostimulator

www.chronicstimulation.blogspot.com

Wow! You all are so wonderful.
I have tried so many of those ideas already -- pparx, RxIllinois, Salvation Army, ComEd Cares, Warm Hearts/Warm Homes, Cephalon's program, all the local pharmacies' programs. It really is depressing. :(

But there are a few new ideas that I will try. What's frustrating is that I was out sick on extended leave, but didn't qualify for LTD insurance, however, since I was enrolled in an LTD plan, I could not qualify for any other type of insurance or financial assistance. Cephalon's program is exclusively for people with no insurance whatsoever. RxIllinois does not cover pain meds unless it's for cancer or something like that. Because I had no income at all & could not get any assistance from family members, the utility programs will not let me qualify for their programs (very frustrating since it was not an easy application process). And then I come to find out that food stamps & rxIllinois have this stupid requirement that you can't own a reliable vehicle. ARRRGGGH! So aggravating. Heck, if I had $10K (or even $300) worth of jewelry, I guarantee you it would already be sold. I guess it's probably designed so that you don't have to hock your wedding band, but it's still pretty aggravating to me that jewelry is okay, but a working vehicle isn't. I'm scared to do a title loan since I don't have any money coming in & am not sure I could pay it back. I feel like I would be way better off just selling my vehicle vs. losing it to a title loan company at only 50% of the value. I did look into that, though. It's just not having a job makes everything so unpredictable.

Salvation Army does not have enough donations to help people who are not homeless. Once I lose my home, they may be able to help me, but donations are way, way, way down. Catholic Charities is the same. My own church is very, very small. There are only about 20-25 families and they are very poor. I love inner-city ministry, so that is why I got involved with the church, to give to others. Unfortunately, that means that now that I am down on funds, I don't really have anywhere to turn. I do get food from the food bank that they run (which is a huge blessing), but that's really all the help I can get. They're going to see if they can help me out with some quarters so I can do my laundry, but even that is iffy. Things are really hard right now & I get that. I wish I could be in a better position so I could help other people out of their tough times, but at this point, I just can't.


I do appreciate some of the new ideas that you all shared. I need to just keep at it. I "only" need to find another $850 and then my insurance will pick up 100% of the cost for all prescriptions & medical care for the rest of 2009. I am trying to rent out an extra room in my condo & have been hired by a temp agency (if they ever get any jobs in) so there is some possibility of getting a little money in through one of those routes. It's all just so frustrating. I'm getting desperate with the job hunting. Heck, even those forestry jobs are starting to look pretty sweet. (lol) No, seriously though, they are! Hopefully, I will find something soon. It's so hard, especially being in all this pain, to go job hunting. It seems like any time there are a few jobs open, thousands of people line up at the crack of dawn for them & they're filled before you can blink. Yesterday, 4000 people stood in line for 12 hours to apply for one of 300 jobs at a new hotel. The jobs pay minimum wage or less. I wouldn't even care about the minimum wage, but I can't really see myself getting up at 2am, standing in line wearing dress shoes outside on the sidewalk in 30F windy weather from 4am - 4pm and then being in any shape at all to give a decent interview. How am I supposed to compete with that?! It's like a boot camp level endurance test just to win a 3-minute interview!

Well, I'm off to try out some of your ideas & also to keep looking for jobs. Don't have a moment to lose since last month I lost out on one of 15 DOJ jobs that were posted. They said they were looking to fill them by next September, but went to one of those god-forsaken job fairs (only a 10 hour wait for that one, but no guarantees that after those 10 hours that you would actually land an interview) and filled all 15 openings in one fell swoop. If this keeps up, I think I will have to start self-identifying as disabled, even though I don't need much in the way of accommodations on the job, just b/c of the physical stamina required to land an interview.

No money = No meds = No energy = No job = No money

Oh Frances, I'm so sorry this is happening to you. What is happening to this country? How come there are no jobs and so many people are down and out? It makes me want to scream! I don't have any answers for you, I wish I did but my home e-mail adress is pwsansone at bellsouth dot net send me an e-mail and I'll look for it tomorrow. Maybe there is some way I can help you.
Your friend,
Pete

(Pete, I reworded your email address so all of those nasty web crawlers can't harvest it and start spamming you)

Post Edited By Moderator (Chutz) : 3/25/2009 11:11:38 PM (GMT-6)

((((((((((((((Frances))))))))))))))))). I don't have much to add, unfortunately, but I did want to give you a big hug! I hope something good comes your way real soon!!

Skeye

Frances,

Have you contacted the Drug Company directly....I know some of them offer free meds if you do not have Insurance or $$$.  Your Dr. can help you with this by contacting the Drug Rep for you and asking if they offer this program!  When I worked we did this for several of our patients.  It would be worth a try!

((((((((((((((((((((FRANCES)))))))))))))))))))))))

XXOO
Patti

Frances, my email address is in my profile. Please send me an email if you can.

Thanks, Patti,
Yes, I have contacted Cephalon on several occasions. They don't offer any assistance with the Actiq. They do offer help for Fentora, but only to people with no insurance at all. I have called them. My doctor's office has called the rep & the company. I have also tried to get secondary insurance to cover the difference & see if they could get Cephalon to help me out. I tried the generic manufacturers for Actiq, even though I knew that was a long shot. No dice on all accounts.

I am scared to let my insurance lapse b/c I have a rare neuro condition, in addition to the CP, & between the two I run up tens of thousands of dollars worth of medical bills every year. If those two pre-existing conditions were to be excluded, I don't know how I would function at all b/c I would have no medical treatment for those conditions for 12 consecutive months on a cafeteria plan & could have them excluded for up to 36 months on an individual plan. So, it's just really tough.

My insurance does cover 80% of the cost of the medication & I have no co-pays, just co-insurance. My PM is amazing & has said that as long as I bring in at least $5/month that I can keep seeing him at least through the end of this year. I have a $600 tab with him, so that is really a very generous blessing. Still, until I reach my $3K out of pocket maximum, I need to pay 20% on all my meds. I have stopped the Lunesta (though occasionally my doc gets some samples of that & Sepracor lets me have some extra coupons sometimes as long as I don't get too greedy). I got a little bit of money from some odd jobs to cover the $30/90-day supply of my Lyrica which is coming soon. But the Actiq is just really expensive. I have literally tried every single other narc out there except Methadone & am allergic to them all. I don't even tolerate Duragesic. I got huge welts around the application site & OD'ed on the 25mcg patches. I could maybe try the 12mcg patches, I'm just a bit worried that if something goes wrong, I don't have any way to handle it. I don't even have $50 for an visit to the ER. Plus, even the generic Duragesic patches cost about $50/month. Granted, that's a lot better than $300 for the generic Actiq, but if I don't tolerate them then I wasted money that could have gotten me 5 days worth of Actiq which is definitely better than nothing.

I am hoping to get a little money from my former employer & perhaps my tax refund will come soon. If everything works out perfectly, I can mail order 90 days worth of my Actiq at half-price & then I will be set for a while. It's just trying to get to that point. It seems like every time I think I finally have a plan that could work that something else goes wrong & I have to dream up a new plan. Perhaps it's overly simplistic to think so, but I just feel like if I could take my medication every day without having to worry so much that I would at least have a fighting shot at landing a job, and jobs make a lot of things better. I really want to work & could do so if I could just get my medication in order.

well, maybe someday. :)

Francis, your situation just makes me cry. I feel so bad for you and the I really wish I could do something to help. Have you tried getting your meds from a Canadian Pharmacy? Back when I had my last pelvic surgery I had to have lovenox shots for 4 weeks. To get them here locally it was going to be over $1300 dollars. I got them from a Canadian Pharmacy for $440. Still a lot of money but much better than getting them locally. The one I dealt with was great. They let me email them the script and took a check over the internet. I had them in less than a week. It's just a thought. I wish the best for you and and hope things work out for you soon.