Guest guest Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 Well, I finally talked to someone at Enbrel. Obviously this is not something I'm going to be able to try through Medicare. At benefit level I, the deductible is $3600 per year. You pay that first, then it's $250 per prescription plus 25% of the actual cost of the drug. They said they couldn't tell me until July 1 when my approval goes into effect how much that would be. I told him I had heard that it's $6000 per month and he said it isn't quite that much. I don't know why they come up with drugs that no one can afford! Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 ----- Original Message ----- From: " DeNicola " <sdenicola@...> > I take Remicade. I can't speak for Enbrel, but Remicade's Patient Assistance program was wonderful. They approved me in 48 hours once I showed proof of no insurance & an Rx from my rheumy. I just checked with some other places that Enbrel recommended to see if those organizations would help with the costs. I don't qualify. Two people with an income of $29,000 a year does not qualify. So I guess I will stick with the prednisone and just let it kill me because that's what it's doing. Hang onto your insurance no matter what. Otherwise, you will be like me and not be able to get any. I can't even get it through group insurance without a two year pre-existing condition clause. I could not change my COBRA insurance to a private policy in TX (United Healthcare's rules in TX) and the high risk pool was cost prohibitive (about $600 a month just for me and that was in 1998. I also can't get Medigap insurance in TX because I am under 65. The only policy they would give me would not cover anything Medicare won't cover now. Nothing I could get would cover meds. Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 I just started humira and I'm no expert, but I think that humira and enbrel are very similar, and neither is better than the other. I'm sure someone else may have more info on that. Humira started working for me right away....another lady I know enbrel worked for her right away. Don't know about enbrel stinging tho...humira stings me. Side effects I noticed whether related to humira or not are more headaches. You may have good success from enbrel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maggie http://www.4HockeyFans.com http://www.4FloridaHockey.com MSN: Maggies1429 AOL: Maggies85 Vicki wrote: Hi, My insurance company denied my script for Humira because I have not tried Enbrel yet. Can someone tell me if Enbrel causes pain during injection like Humira? Also any side effects you have experienced. If Enbrel doesn't start to work after 3 months, my dr can call it a failure and I can get Humira. Is Humira really that much better than Enbrel? Thanks for any advice. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 I believe that Enbrel and Humira are eqiuvalent to each other, as opposed to trying one before you can try the other. Enbrel worked for me for a while, although I never had 100% relief from it. I did get to a point where I could work full time, I just had to learn to function with my limitations. After 3 years, it completely stop working for me, but that is not necessarily unusual for an RA med. There are 2 types of Enbrel injections. There is a 25mg injection that you take twice a week and you have to mix it yourself. This injection doesn't hurt at all, and has a very fine needle. There is now a 50mg once a week pre-prepared injection. This one seemed so much easier and more convienient so I tried it. This one hurts a LOT and I found it ineffective to get me through the week. I went back to the 25mg injections. I don't recall now how long it took before I started getting any relief from the Enbrel, but I was taking 40 mg prednisone a day at the time because the pain had been so bad. 3 months should be more than enough time to know if you are getting any relief or not. Good luck, Miriam --- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " Vicki " <hoyt91@u...> wrote: > Hi, > My insurance company denied my script for Humira because I have not tried > Enbrel yet. Can someone tell me if Enbrel causes pain during injection like > Humira? Also any side effects you have experienced. > > If Enbrel doesn't start to work after 3 months, my dr can call it a failure > and I can get Humira. > > Is Humira really that much better than Enbrel? > > Thanks for any advice. > Vicki > > > --- http://USFamily.Net/dialup.html - $8.25/mo! -- http://www.usfamily.net/dsl.html - $19.99/mo! --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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