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Diagnosis: God wins (despite leukemia)

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LaserDave said:
:thumb: I'm betting this Thanksgiving is gonna be real special for ya!
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a cool place, lots of family, I'm stoked.
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Switching to Medicare is an adventure in bureaucracy.

I'm taking something called Sprycel, made by BMS, scientific name dasatinab. Prior to Medicare, after my deductible for the year, it was covered.
Because I'm a December birthday, I cram one month for 2023 into December. Same deductible, etc. No proration.
Sprycel's monthly "retail" cost is $17, 243, or about $574 a pill. You definitely don't want to drop one down the drain.
Dec 2023 will cost me $3468 for this Tier 5 drug under my Part D prescription plan for Medicare.
Jan 2023 will cost me $3320 and then I think around $200 for Feb, where my Plan D's deductible at all levels is met (catastrophic level.) My doc has told me I may end up taking this for the remainder of my life.

Leukemia isn't for sissies or for poor people.

Supposedly, I might get BMS to kick back some of the OOP through a financial aid application, but there doesn't appear to be any guarantees, and I'd need to apply annually AFTER I pay it OOP.
 
My friend takes a diabetes medication that his wife drives down to Mexico and gets for 100.00 a month prescription.

In the USA, that same exact prescription is 900.00 a month. :angryfire :moon:
 
Buy Low drugs in Canada is my favorite place to save $. There may be more. On something this expensive and critical you'd need to verify its authenticity.
 
Tracker said:
Switching to Medicare is an adventure in bureaucracy.

I'm taking something called Sprycel, made by BMS, scientific name dasatinab. Prior to Medicare, after my deductible for the year, it was covered.
Because I'm a December birthday, I cram one month for 2023 into December. Same deductible, etc. No proration.
Sprycel's monthly "retail" cost is $17, 243, or about $574 a pill. You definitely don't want to drop one down the drain.
Dec 2023 will cost me $3468 for this Tier 5 drug under my Part D prescription plan for Medicare.
Jan 2023 will cost me $3320 and then I think around $200 for Feb, where my Plan D's deductible at all levels is met (catastrophic level.) My doc has told me I may end up taking this for the remainder of my life.

Leukemia isn't for sissies or for poor people.

Supposedly, I might get BMS to kick back some of the OOP through a financial aid application, but there doesn't appear to be any guarantees, and I'd need to apply annually AFTER I pay it OOP.
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We went through that with my wife's psoriatic arthritis medicine. It was about $2800 a month after Medicare. She applied and got approved by the drug company. They sent her enough for several months, so we had almost $10,000 worth of medicine in our refrigerator. Then she had side effects from it and went off of it. She's going to have to throw it away. Nobody can use it.
 
Twisted. The crazy RX drug situation of our world.
BMS is sending me a 30-day supply of my uber-expensive chemo drug for free. But that really just helps the insurance company, as I'll have to get a rx filled under my plan next month and pay the deductible. Insurance will just have to cover 10 months instead of 11. My deductible of $3k is about 1 months' worth.
Unless I'm missing something.
 
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Your tentative transplant date is also the birthday of two great Americans. Ronald Reagan, and my Mom. :thumb:
 
Tracker said:
Twisted. The crazy RX drug situation of our world.
BMS is sending me a 30-day supply of my uber-expensive chemo drug for free. But that really just helps the insurance company, as I'll have to get a rx filled under my plan next month and pay the deductible. Insurance will just have to cover 10 months instead of 11. My deductible of $3k is about 1 months' worth.
Unless I'm missing something.
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UPDATE: They actually sent me the first 30-day supply for the YEAR. So they're covering me for the year. That's a big burden off.
On a separate note, today is Infusion Pump Freedom Day! No more infusion pump. I have zero detectable A.L.L. cells out of a million white blood cells. Ready for transplant.
Thank you for your prayers.
 
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