[Hopespringpcsg] FW: [PPML] High Cost of "Stayin' Alive"!

[Glen Tolhurst]

Hi all:
The note below is from a US based prostate blog to which I subscribe.
As one who grew up in Saskatchewan when Tommy Douglas brought in Medicare, I
remain thankful to be a Canadian.
Take care,
Glen


Just reviewed last month's statement that shows what my insurance  company 
pays for my meds and I was shocked.    The biggest eye  opener was my new 
medicine, Revlimid.    My insurance company was  billed $13,856 for a 28 day

supply, which turns out to be $494.86 a pill and it  is a relatively small,
insignificant looking pill.
 
Here's the list of medications that were on this month's statement:
   Zytiga-------------------------------------$8,203.91
   Vivelle-dot estrogen patches-----$1,032.99
   Leukine-----------------------------------$7,583.99
   Revlimid--------------------------------$13,856.36
   Cabergoline------  ------------------------$899.99
   Prednisone-------------------- -------------$13.57 The total amount was
$31,590.81 of which my insurance  company paid $26,565.27.  If you multiply
the cost by  12 to obtain a yearly cost, you get a staggering $379,089.72 of
which my insurance would pay $318,783.24 a  year.  
 
Also, from March 2013 to March 2014, I had 4 CT scans, 2 bone scans, a bone
density test, a lung biopsy, a stent installed from kidney to bladder,
completed the 3 week Provenge treatment, obtained monthly blood work at the
local LabCorp, plus, I saw my local oncolgist each month and my radiology  
oncologist 3 times last year.    I don't have the exact costs of  all this
but 
I suspect that it was probably in excess of $200,000 as  the cost of the 
Provenge treatment was near $100,000 by  itself.    My yearly total would
then 
exceed $500,000 which  is definitely a high cost of staying alive!!!   
 
The costs of the meds could be described as excessive, shocking,  
exorbitant, extravagant, or just plain high way robbery, but what can one
do?   
Thank God I have a good insurance company as my co-pay is only  $17 per
prescription.  Once again there is a moral to my story, if you are  going to
proceed to advanced metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer  make
sure that you have a good insurance company for pharmacy expenses or you
may not be staying alive very long as I suspect very few, if any, could
afford  to pay 
over $300,000 a year for meds.    Ken  

















=====================================================
When replying to messages, please remember to delete all quoted text that
does not provide useful context for your reply.

To unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
PROSTATE-unsubscribe-request at LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG
For other info on managing your subscription:
http://ppml-info.org/subinfo.html Need more help? Send email to:
prostate-request at listserv.acor.org