Cost of Gleevec

[Guest guest]

I would be very interested knowing more about ordering Gleevec from Canadian

Drug Companies if anyone would care to comment.

Thanks, Margaret

[Guest guest]

You are correct to get the answers from Medicare pro. I was told that my plan

from retirement was better than plan d so I'm not familiar with plan d.

________________________________

From: Ted Fontenot <mortycausa@...>

Sent: Sun, November 7, 2010 7:51:56 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] cost of gleevec

 

Excuse me for interjecting here, but I'm not that familiar with the new Medicare

provisons:  so Part D or whatever would not pay?  If we have a private

insurance, we should keep that as part of the supplement to Medicare?

 Supplements don't normally pay for medicine, do they?

This is all very confusing.  

From: Shipley <paulorkay@...>

Subject: Re: [ ] cost of gleevec

Date: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 7:16 PM

 

Medicare does not pay for Gleevec.Do you have anything with your work!! Consider

you need about $7000.00 worth of meds for 90 days look for a plan that has life

supporting drugs with lowest co pay. I pay $12.00 for 90 days with my plan from

retirement. Have been on 600 Gleevec for 5 years,that is about $400,000 so far.

Good Luck

 

[Guest guest]

Medicare part D does pay for prescription drugs. There seem to be a gazillion

different choices, depending if you go on straight medicare of one of the other

insurance plans. I'm on medicare and pay separately for the part D, somewhere

around $43 a month. Depending on your choice it could be anywhere from $20 to

.... whatever. It would depend on which plan you chose (insurance company) and

whether there is a deductibe or various other choices. There is a " doughnut

hole " of $2830 where you pay 100%, but I go through that after the first two

prescriptions. After you go through the doughnut hole, you only pay 5%.

Try these web sites for information (and plan on being frustrated there is so

much):

http://plancompare.medicare.gov/formularyfinder/selectstate.asp?javascripton=tru\

e

http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/hospital-search.aspx

https://www.mymedicare.gov

http://www.medicare.gov/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

B from California

[Guest guest]

>

> I am going to retire in two years and have questions on gleevec and medicare.

does medicare pay for gleevec or can i to get a supplement to cover the cost i

am totally in the dark in this area

> care giver:

> E. Durbin

> Sheila dx 2001

________________________________

Hi ....I am pretty familiar with all this, as I picked out my own coverage

a couple of years ago...then helped my sister pick hers last year.

First decision to check into in advance:

1. Do you have the option of keeping the health plan that you have at

work....and how expensive will it be, and what drug coverage? Often for

retirees, it is different than for employees. This would be in lieu of Medicare

but would actually wrap around Medicare but be totally handled by your health

insurance company (ex. Blue Cross).

Human Resources should be able to give you this information.

2. If you are going to go with Medicare instead, there are 2 choices:

a. Traditional Medicare.....Part A is for hospital care and is free.

Part B is optional, you pay for this (about $100 a month) and it is for doctor

visits............

ah, we just hit a snag.....I was thinking this coverage was for you. If it is

needed for your spouse, then she needs to have her OWN Medicare coverage

(Medicare is only for the individual)....and when you retire I do not know how

this works....if she has to be age 65 for coverage? or does she have SS

Disability?

There are companies out there who will look at all your options for free (one in

my location is called 'the 65 and up store', or something like that). They do

this because they get some $$ from the health insurance company that you

choose....but they should be a broker who will tell you about many companies,

and not representing one company.

Anyway, Part D of traditional Medicare is for prescription drugs and it does

cover Gleevec...if it is on that health insurance's formulary. I think that

you could go to the employment office and get a copy of Medicare just to

familiarize yourself with it. It does seem very confusing at first until you get

familiar with the terms they use and the options.

Medicare Advantage plans are instead of traditional Medicare and they also cover

drugs.....but you have to choose doctors in their plan.

Also, about the so called donut hole, where you have to pay 100% of the drug

cost (as B. wrote) this is being reduced with the new health care reform

and might start in Jan???? where it is reduced by 50% for brand name drugs.

Gradually it will totally be eliminated by a certain year (until the health care

reform act is scraped).

I would start with talking to Human Resources where you work, then do a

comparison with the different types of Medicare as far as cost.

C.

[Guest guest]

I am on Medicare but not yet on Part D. I'm getting coverage thru my

husband's previous employer (he's retired). Each year I have to

reevaluate at this time of the year as the amount I pay thru IBM (his

previous employer) has been very close to the cost it would be if I

went with a supplemental plan (like AARP) and a Part D plan.

The website for Medicare is really useful for selecting part D and I

remember this was available to me even before I was on Medicare. You

specify what drugs you take (in my case Gleevec) and it shows you the

policies that are available in your area. This differs depending on

where you live. It provides a total cost for a year so makes it

something I've been able to use to compare to the IBM plans.

In my case the cost of a year is about $8000 as it includes the costs

in the donut hole and the 5% as well as the cost of the insurance.

This year things could change due to the new healthcare law. The

donut hold is supposed to be smaller so it would likely be less

expensive for me to get a Part D plan than it would be to remain with

IBM. The IBM plan I'm on covers drugs and medical but it overlaps

with Medicare on medical so in reality they haven't picked up any of

the expenses for seeing doctors or getting tests. They are only

providing Gleevec. If I leave the IBM coverage I will also need to

get a Part B supplemental policy for doctors/tests. So the math I

need to do each year to see which of my options are better is pretty

significant.

My husband is retired but not yet on Medicare (he's not old enough)

and we've been waiting to get our packet from IBM as the new

healthcare law is supposed to be making it cheaper for IBM to provide

coverage to retired people not yet 65. Since IBM offers coverage but

doesn't pick up the costs--I think they should be passing this savings

on to us. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the new healthcare

law doesn't get axed as it should save us some significant dollars

over the next few years.

Just to clarify one point--Medicare Part B is for coverage of non-drug

medical expenses and typically pays 80%. Supplemental policies are

designed to cover that other 20%. Medicare Part D is drug coverage.

You need a separate policy for Medicare Part D. These are also

policies offered by insurance companies (like supplemental

insurance). You must check to be sure any drug is covered in the Part

D policy--but it is easy to find that information on the Medicare

website. When you are eligible for Medicare at 65 if you don't get

Part D immediately you should make sure that the coverage you have is

" creditable " because if it isn't you would have to pay a higher

premium for the rest of your life if you ever desired or needed to

switch to Part D.

Hope I haven't totally confused you!

Dorothy

On Nov 7, 2010, at 7:51 PM, wrote:

> I am going to retire in two years and have questions on gleevec and

> medicare. does medicare pay for gleevec or can i to get a supplement

> to cover the cost i am totally in the dark in this area

> care giver:

> E. Durbin

> Sheila dx 2001

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi all.

Robyn has a prescription plan with a co-pay which pays almost the total amount

of gleevec. I believe that she mails in the amount of the co-pay and insurance

to the Leukemia Society and gets reimbursed.

I believe that it is called the Assistance for Co-Pay.. You need to call your

local chapter and ask for the application for the Co-Pay Assistance Plan. I

thought that Medicare D covered prescription Drugs.

While we are on the topic of Gleevec, we need to know whether any one other than

Robyn has had liver levels change. Her Creatin is 1.5 (up from 1.25. Her Egfr

is 40 (down from 47). Both numbers are off the normal range. These numbers

show that her liver is affected , possibly by Gleevec. Has anyone else had this

problem? If so, what was done about it? She will see a specialist and speak to

her oncologist about it.

Sandi

>

> From: Shipley <paulorkay@...>

> Subject: Re: [ ] cost of gleevec

>

> Date: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 7:16 PM

>

>

>

> Medicare does not pay for Gleevec.Do you have anything with your work!!

Consider

>

> you need about $7000.00 worth of meds for 90 days look for a plan that has

life

>

> supporting drugs with lowest co pay. I pay $12.00 for 90 days with my plan

from

>

> retirement. Have been on 600 Gleevec for 5 years,that is about $400,000 so

far.

>

> Good Luck

>

>

>

>