Fwd: Insurers forcing patients to pay more for costly specialty drugs - latimes.com

[Guest guest]

This train wreck is headed our way. Huge increases in out of pocket costs.

JB

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-expensive-drugs-20120529,0,415311,print.st\

ory

[Guest guest]

On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 11:04 AM, J Barrowster <barrowster@...> wrote:

This train wreck is headed our way. Huge increases in out of pocket costs.

JB

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-expensive-drugs-20120529,0,415311,print.story

This train wreck has been here for at least the last two years. Ever since I started on Medicare on 2010, all plan options put my HIV meds in the so-called " cost-sharing " tier so that I'd have to pay $450-500 per month each for Isentress and Truvada.  Fortunately, ADAP comes to the rescue when I reach the coverage gap (a/k/a do-nut hole), but because of the time it takes for the insurer to send me the paperwork showing that I'm in the coverage gap, and my ADAP application is processed, I've had to pay for another month at full price!  Now that insurers seem to be doing the same thing with employer insurance plans, I wonder if I'll ever be able to afford to work again because social workers are not paid very well. Certainly not enough that I can fork over almost $1,000 per month just for medications.

Isn't this discriminatory? Can't the argument be made that this is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it is the disabled who are being disproportionately affected?  I'd love to see the insurance companies slapped with a lawsuit for these actions, and the pharmaceutical companies for price gouging.

Regards,Nick-- Nick , LSW

6631 Clemens Ave., Apt. 1EUniversity City, MO 63130

thenick58@...

http://nicknicholas.net