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Ack - Expensive Meds - Benefit programs???

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/28/2014 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
I am about to jump off the "all natural" bandwagon and jump on the "gimme drugs!" bandwagon.

When I last looked at prescription drug rates for some of the more common UC drugs, the prices were out of sight. My insurance doesn't cover drugs (at least not until I meet my $10,000 deductible *sigh*)

I remember seeing these little drug benefit cards somewhere, like prescription med insurance cards but they're free... does anyone know what I'm talking about? I remember them claiming things like you only pay $5-10 per refill, saving hundreds of dollars, etc. Are these legit? Does anyone use one? Where do you get them? I desperately need a way to pay for the prescription meds if I go that route.

Thanks in advance for any input! :) :) :)
Posted 2/28/2014 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
There is one for Lialda, but the $10 per refill is an "illustration" assuming you have insurance that has a copay of $130 or less. In other words, the card pays upto $120 of your 30-day copay an you have to pay at least $10.

So if the uninsured price is $750, you can get it for $630.

Sorry. Maybe you can use something cheap like generic Colazal

Post Edited (DBwithUC) : 2/28/2014 11:32:31 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/28/2014 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not sure about the Rx discount cards but many of the drug manufacturers have a discount program, especially the recently approved drugs. Asacol HD, Lialda, etc all have patient support programs. Plus all the biologics have pretty good patient support programs as well. You can google these to find their programs.
Posted 2/28/2014 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
I don't believe zucchini was referring to the discount cards offered by the big drug companies for certain drugs. If it is the cards I'm thinking about I've used them occasionally before. They actually offer a minor percentage discount and that's it, so you could get drugs for as little as $5 - $10, providing they are cheaper generic drugs to begin with. For a while a couple of years ago I used one of these cards to buy Asacol and it decreased the amount probably by about $50 off a $650 prescription. The discount cards offered by the big drug companies for certain expensive drugs are much better as they will usually give you around $100 off if you have no copays on your insurance.
Posted 3/1/2014 4:09 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I don't really know what I'm talking about, any way to save money on Rx medications. All my medication expenses are out of pocket, and that's really scary.

I have a little plastic card from ... I have no idea where I got it now, I've had it over a year and never used it. It says "Rx relief - Pharmacy Discount Card - Save up to 75% on 50000 drugs at over 50000 pharmacies"

I have serious doubts that it will actually save me anything (other than perhaps as garylouisville says you might save a few bucks off your $650 prescription, not really much help)

I'm just a bit terrified that if I start taking the Rx drugs, become dependent on them?, I can just see all the money being sucked from my savings account really really quickly.

So ... just wondering if anyone has ideas for saving big bucks on Rx meds. Heck, it never hurts to ask.

Thanks! ;)
Posted 3/1/2014 4:13 PM (GMT 0)
Is it possible to get different insurance? As much as I hate Obamacare for a large number of reasons, it does have some great advantages - if you are the right person.
Posted 3/1/2014 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
I have insurance thru my hubby's work, so it's whatever they have at work. If it turns out that I go the expensive meds route, we can certainly look into getting different insurance with prescription copay benefits, but if there's another alternative, I'll check it out too.
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