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Went to the cardiologist yesterday. He prescribed a medication and warned me it was quite expensive. I told him I thought I had good insurance, so off I went with prescription in hand.
Dropped the prescription off at a pharmacy on my way home. They called this morning and said the prescription would be $2,000.
I told them that even though the doctor said it would be expensive, I didn't think it would be that much. Turns out that was the cash price, their system had misplaced my insurance info. They said they would run it past my insurance and call back later.
Call back came, new price is: $60.
I am once again very pleased that I have good insurance, but what are people with less advantageous insurance or none to do?
I sure hope we can fix this system…
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Wow, that call from the pharmacy could've caused a second visit with the cardiologist.
Yes, drug pricing is obscene. Everything about it .
30 tabs of xarelto, $600 retail. No generic.
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My mother takes a heart medication that costs $18,000/month (about $600/pill) and is not available at local pharmacies, there are 9 "specialty pharmacies" in the US that distribute it. Luckily her fantastic health coverage has a $450/year out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs.
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Dealing with that run up in drug prices getting insulin for my cat. Retail price is $300+ a vial, can get a coupon that takes off about $15. Coupons are available to get it for just over $200 if the prescription was for a human. Fortunately the vial lasts for about 6 months at the dose needed for my cat. No usable coupon for the boxes of insulin syringes though.
Looked up the estimated cost of producing that vial, and past prices. It used to retail for about $100, and cost about $20-25 to make.
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Lemon Drop wrote:
Wow, that call from the pharmacy could've caused a second visit with the cardiologist.
Snip...
 miley-laughing001: I had the same thought!
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GGD wrote:
My mother takes a heart medication that costs $18,000/month (about $600/pill) and is not available at local pharmacies, there are 9 "specialty pharmacies" in the US that distribute it. Luckily her fantastic health coverage has a $450/year out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs.
Holy Smokes!
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wave rider wrote:
[quote=GGD]
My mother takes a heart medication that costs $18,000/month (about $600/pill) and is not available at local pharmacies, there are 9 "specialty pharmacies" in the US that distribute it. Luckily her fantastic health coverage has a $450/year out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs.
Holy Smokes!
Seriously
But if that is what she needs, thank goodness you can get it
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JoeH wrote:
Dealing with that run up in drug prices getting insulin for my cat. Retail price is $300+ a vial, can get a coupon that takes off about $15. Coupons are available to get it for just over $200 if the prescription was for a human. Fortunately the vial lasts for about 6 months at the dose needed for my cat. No usable coupon for the boxes of insulin syringes though.
Looked up the estimated cost of producing that vial, and past prices. It used to retail for about $100, and cost about $20-25 to make.
My cats are too old to get the insurance, but if a new kitten shows up in my life, I will get it. It has paid off for a friend that keeps rescuing cats.
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I think it’s always worth it to at least try Good RX, WellRX or maybe other drug savings programs to see what the price is with their card. I’ve had a couple of prescriptions that I saved quite a bit of money by using them instead of my normal drug insurance plan (sorry, I’d rather not post the names).
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Lemon Drop wrote:
[quote=wave rider]
[quote=GGD]
My mother takes a heart medication that costs $18,000/month (about $600/pill) and is not available at local pharmacies, there are 9 "specialty pharmacies" in the US that distribute it. Luckily her fantastic health coverage has a $450/year out of pocket maximum for prescription drugs.
Holy Smokes!
Seriously
But if that is what she needs, thank goodness you can get it
This is what she's taking (Vyndamax), it's only been available for about two years and is THE most expensive heart medication.
https://www.tctmd.com/news/outrageous-22...aws-outcry
It can stop the progression of Heart Failure in patients where there's a certain specific cause. She was tested for it, and has the trait that this drug can treat, and it was caught early enough. There were also tests done to see if it was genetic and if me and my siblings might develop it as we age, but those were negative.
Since it "stops the progression", it's difficult for us to observe if it's really doing anything for her because everything remains normal, but tests that the cardiologist has run show that it's not getting worse.
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