Can the unfogged community help out? I can pony up a few bucks to help a sister out.
Echoes of the applause that greeted the grandstanding about healthcare and the evils of socialized insurance at last night's GOP candidates debate.
Check to see if the doctor has free samples. That might cover a month. When does the new fiscal year for the policy start?
Seconding 1.
1 says "a few bucks", but I'm a bit confused by the post on her blog -- what is the total target amount? $500/month until... some roll-over limit is reached? The policy-year resets?
Likewise to 1 and 3, if Alif's interested. (Although this may be a scale problem -- if I've got the numbers right, the kind of amount we're likely to raise is a couple months. If it were a bridge to a permanent solution that couldn't be implemented until, say, November, it would make sense, but otherwise I'm not sure that it would be really useful.)
I have the same problem - here are some resources I've tried.
She can try the Partnership for Prescription Assistance or RxAssist for help with brand medications.
Some manufacturer's have their own version of these programs, but typing in the brand name + prescription assistance should locate them.
Another solution - shop around - Costco and Sam's Club are less expensive than most pharmacies. Rite Aid will often negotiate cheaper rates as well.
Last but not least, go back to your doctor and ask if there is a generic that is reasonably close; often you are getting "brand" name because it is the top of the doctor's mind - many older generics work just as well as brand drugs do.
Alif, do you know any social workers? Sadly, I'm in MN and so my social worker connection is useless to you, but at least here she's told me that there are a bunch of tiny hidden programs that help people with medical care--tiny and hidden because if they were well known they'd be swamped. Social workers often know this stuff. Of course, I'd pony up a little money if that would help.
Hey, she's not reading here anymore, but ac was a NY area social worker, wasn't she? Not in any remotely related area, but maybe someone who's still in touch could find out if she has a connection who might know about NY prescription-drug-assistance programs?
I know social workers for the trans community. Think we can trick 'em?
I'm in with 1, 3, and 5, as long as Alif's okay with it. (I'm a little sad I couldn't post this as an odd-numbered comment, though.)
Second all of Tantalus' points, particularly the thought that even if the current drug is not generic, there may be a near cousin that is. Obviously, this is something to be considered with the assistance of your doctor, not with the assistance of webMD.
A friend of mine is in the health insurance business (a broker, rather than an insurance person, so he does plan evaluation for companies and such); I just dropped him an email to see if he has any thoughts.
If you would just tell us the name of the insurance company perhaps we could have someone firebomb their headquarters?
Prescription drugs are very cheap in Mexico. Buy a two-year supply, they almost definitely won't find it.
I was without coverage for a couple of years and used a couple of methods. Mail-order Canadian pharmacies worked in my case, since the drug is generic in Canada and much cheaper. I was also extremely lucky to have a doctor friend who works in a clinic that had a ton of samples of this particular drug that had just expired, and he snagged them for me before they were thrown out.
That's really horrible that there's a limit to your drug coverage.
Alif Sikkiin: Let me guess is this that crappy insurance the university provides for the students to buy? We had that for a year because normal insurance plans would not take my wife until she had lived in the U.S. for a year. I guess they wanted to see if any of the detrimental effects of socialized medicine would show up during that quarantine period.
My mind still boggles to think that they called that crap insurance, for instance they would pay for the first $250 of X-Rays but no more. Hello! One can always find a way to cover the first $250 of something, it is the $12,000 beyond that one buys insurance for.
If you are dealing with that lot you have my sympathy.
Has anything come good of this? I understand she is stuck until the end of the calendar year. I stand ready to help. I just need pointers.