My diabetes meds just went up...

[Contrary1]

From $80. for a 3 month supply to $260.64.

And...I get to pay a higher premium too! Yea!

Life is good.

[dkf]

1. Yup, life with health insurance...

[tkmorris]

2. Ouch!

My wife takes diabetes meds as well and I hate going to the pharmacy with her because the costs are just stunning sometimes. What are you taking anyway, if you don't mind me asking?

[Contrary1]

3. Actos 30mg, One a day.

I don't get it. It went up over 300%. Ouch is right.

[aquart]

4. And you have been on the phone to your rep's office, right?

With a follow-up letter that includes copies of the receipts?

Seriously, contact local, state, and federal. Especially federal since Congress is up for election. The the local political clubs asking them who they have running with an actual plan to FIX THIS CRAP.

It becomes an issue when people make it an issue.

[livvy]

5. Here's why....

Apparently it's the new trend in making insurance work better for everyone. :sarcasm:

It is sickening, both literally and figuratively. The more expensive your meds, the more your co-pay. Unfortunately, the more expensive your meds, the more you probably need them, and in many situations I would imagine the less able you are to pay (if your illness is debilitating and you are unable to work).


Co-Payments Soar for Drugs With High Prices (NYT 4/14/08)

Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.


With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.

The system means that the burden of expensive health care can now affect insured people, too.

No one knows how many patients are affected, but hundreds of drugs are priced this new way. They are used to treat diseases that may be fairly common, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers. There are no cheaper equivalents for these drugs, so patients are forced to pay the price or do without.

Insurers say the new system keeps everyone’s premiums down at a time when some of the most innovative and promising new treatments for conditions like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis can cost $100,000 and more a year.

more...


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/us/14drug.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[Clear Blue Sky]

6. I saw this too. It's the Tier 4 program.

Ties copays to a percentage of the drug cost rather than a standard fixed copay amount as was the case previously.

Big hit on expensive drugs.

[Jim__]

9. And, of course, having significantly raised the co-pay, the insurance companies reduced ...

... premiums. Right?

I'm kidding.

BTW, this is another benefit of bush's medicare co-pay. From the article: The system, often called Tier 4, began in earnest with Medicare drug plans and spread rapidly. It is now incorporated into 86 percent of those plans. Some have even higher co-payments for certain drugs, a Tier 5.

Tell me again. Why would a working class person ever vote republican?

[Thothmes]

7. When it comes to medicines

the 24 years I spent in the Navy are worth their weight in gold. My wife's diabetic medications and testing supplies are issued at no cost from the local Air Force pharmacy.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Yes, and common old insulin has gone from $18 to $46 a vial in 4 years.