This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I am a single mom with three children and am unable to work due my MS. I do receive support from my ex. My health insurance premiums, under the new health care reform, are $700 per month. Of course they will be more when it's time for me to renew next year. The plan I have currently costs $798 for someone to enroll in today! My out of pocket expense for Copaxone is $1759 (insurance pays half). Of course, there are other meds I take/should take as well. What guidelines do the drug assistance programs use? What considerations do they make?

My sister is currently faced with a similar situation in that she cannot purchase her medication because it is too expensive. She has had very positive outcomes with Copaxone and would like to continue taking it... we are currently looking for prescription assistance programs that work in accordance with prescription plans that won't cover it all. Any suggestions or recommendations for where to start searching? (she lives in Pennsylvania).

Contact Shared Solutions at 1-800-887-8100 M-F
They should be able to help you.

Definitely contact shared solutions. They're hook you up with PharmAssist, their financial aid company. I was uninsired after living abroad for over a decade and was diagnosed with MS before I got insurance in the states. I recently got insurance but it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions until 12 months from now. They're currently providing my copaxone for NO COST TO ME WHAT SO EVER!! If you have insurance and it doesn't cover the medication or leaves you with a large co-pay, you can get assistance from Shared Solutions/PharmAssist to reduce the costs.

It's a one page application. They don't tell you if they have any income limits or what any of the deciding factors are but it's definitely worth a show. I own my own business with a significant income but my tax returns state I make 30k/year and they decided that meant I shouldn't have to pay a dime for the medication. You'll have to fill out the one page and include a tax return for the prior year. It is definitely worth taking the 5 minutes to fill out the form.

I contacted Shared Solutions - they referred me to Assist RX - my application was denied as I have health insurance. There currently is a copay assistance from Shared Solutions for up to $500 off per month - copaxone would cost me $1279 per month - still can't afford it (and you know it will cost more come January). Very discouraging

its2much – The cost is certainly exorbitant! Perhaps I could justify a high price if any of the current drugs for MS solved the problem, but not one does.

I know that it is small consolation if you really want the drug, but some of us choose not to use the CRABs. I want to see real effectiveness first. Have you tried diet? Many people, such as http://www.TerryWahls.org, have seen great changes with that change in lifestyle.

its2much: Wow?? They denied your application? Did they specify anything else aside from having health insurance? I don't have health insurance as I got diagnosed with MS unexpectedly after moving back to the states from abroad and hadn't set up my health insurance yet. Since all of the insurance quotes have seemed ridiculous to pay (1800/month in CA with an 12 month waiting list before it even covered preexisting conditions). Even now, I got a quote since I moved to VA and it's 792/month with a 5k deductible and won't cover anything related to MS until 12 months after the sign up date. I still haven't decided if I even want to bother with it. If it means I would have to come out of pocket by say 1700+/month for the copaxone then it doesn't exactly seem worth it for me.

Between the thyroid meds, provigil, copaxone and plethora of other medications, even with the copaxone being free via Shared Solutions, I'm still paying about 4k/month in prescriptions, not even including doctors visits. How do pharmaceutical companies think people can afford this? Makes me want to go back over seas where I pay less in taxes and get health coverage and reasonable prescription prices.

Does anyone know how long it takes for assistrx to let you know if your application was approved??