im in college and am on Remicade and my parents insurance is about to drop me due to age

im a 22 yr old college student who was diagnosed with crohns in 2000. i am prescribed Remicade bc nothing else would work. i cant take any of the ASA drugs bc one of them caused me to go into kidney failure. so apparently im allergic to them or something.

anyway, on dec 31st 2009 (when im 23) my parents insurance will no longer cover me. and im still in school and have around a year and a half left. is there any type of insurance that i can get thru the gov. for having crohns?

what should i do? bc i know a poor college student like myself cannot afford to pay $6000 every 8 wks.

Check with your state, too.  I know Texas has an insurance plan for those with chronic conditions who can't get insurance elsewhere.

Definately check with your college, most do have health insurance for students, or else look at getting an independant from your parent's company if possible since they have covered you for the past 23 years.

#1 Check with your school. I only paid $100 month for coverage thru my college. I remained a student at 1 credit hour per semester even after I graduated so that I could keep that insurance as long as possible!

#2 Check with the state for sure. I've also qualified for Medicaid in the past.

#3 Centocor, the maker of Remicade is definitely a good place to check (but they never helped me)

#4 Patient Access Network Foundation might help you pay for the Remicade if you DO get onto an insurance plan through your college or the state. They will take the sting out of whatever "copay" might remain.

Bottom line - there are ways and you've given yourself time to figure it all out, so go you! You're ahead of the game.

Fitzy - that's when Patient Access Network Foundation came through for me. They paid for all of my Remicade. To qualify for their program though, you have to have something that qualifies as "prescription coverage" no matter how crappy it may be. The general "gist" of it from my experience is this - Centocor will give you Remicade if you're broke enough and don't have insurance. If you have insurance, you actually end up worse off because Centocor will deny you free Remicade. If you have the crappy insurance, though, PANF will buffer the difference. It's stupid, but that's the way it has worked for me.

Up here in Canada, I was approved with insurance the first time but then denied. The company that makes Remicade worked on my behalf and I was finally approved

Jay