Do you have insurance; are you underinsured or do you have great employer insurance benefits?  On OsteoporosisConnection.com we get questions from members who don’t have insurance are underinsured or they have a plan that doesn’t cover what their doctor prescribed.  Charlotte asked: "I don't have insurance and had the Reclast infusion from Novartis, under the patient assistance program.  The cost of this infusion is very expensive even with the patient assistance plan, are there any other options? If I pay for the infusion I can't pay rent."  Mrs. Beezer asked: "Without insurance coverage, how much does Reclast cost?"  Eileen asked: "I am enrolled in Humana Gold Plan. My Doctor has arranged for me to receive an injection of Reclast. My co-payment is $232.96. I cannot afford the co-payment. Where can I get help, so I can get Reclast?"

The drug manufacturers do offer patient assistance programs but the financial requirements are pretty rigid.  Your income must be substantially low to qualify and many don’t qualify.  If you don’t qualify for the patient assistance programs, what other options are left?  There are other patient assistance programs besides that offered by the manufacturers of these drugs.  I’ll list all that I found at the end of this article, so take a look and see if any of these can help you. 

It’s very difficult if you have a medical problem but the only treatment is out of your financial reach.  As you can see, our members are facing the same problems, and feel like they have no options.  For the uninsured and underinsured, life with a medical problem is really tough.  What can you do, where can you turn?  One idea, I’ve thought of is to talk to your health care provider and see if there is a discount for cash payments.  You may also be able to set up a payment plan, where you make monthly payments on your medications or put the charges on a medical credit card.  I don’t have very good dental insurance and if it wasn’t for my providers help, with monthly payments provided to me without interest, I wouldn’t be able to pay for the expensive procedures I feel I must have since I don’t want to lose my teeth.  I also use a medical credit card that has different plans where you can pay it off in 36, 24, 12 and 6 months without interest.  This makes it a bit easier on the pocket book, and I know I couldn’t make it or have my dental work done without it.  This is for dental work, that isn’t covered by my HMO, but almost all doctors and hospitals accept these, so look into them.  One that is good is Care Credit.  It covers things like medications, hearing aids (something Medicare doesn’t cover) dental, eye glasses and veterinarian bills.  It has been a life saver for me since I’ve needed quite expensive work done recently and it’s not over yet.  At least I can budget my payments and not have to come up with the total cost up-front.