Assistance to MS Patients with Insurance Co-payments
Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:20 am
Interesting info from an other messageboard.
MS ActiveSource and MS Patients For Choice
In the next week or so, people can call MS ActiveSource at 1-800-456-2255, give them a ZIP Code, and they will be able to provide contact information for a couple of nearby TOUCH-enrolled neurologists and infusion centers. I was told ten days ago that this was being put in place, but it is still not quite ready. Today, I received an email from my contact at BIIB explaining the delay:
The customer service team followed up after our conversation and do have this process near completion. Because everything takes place in a very controlled environment for Tysabri, IT programs need to be written and checked, SOPs need to be developed and implemented, and training needs to take place. This take some time. However, please rest assured the team is working on it actively to assure that this service is available to patients interested in locating a physician. At present, we do have a process to help identify infusion sites for patients who have been enrolled.
As soon as this is up and running, we will alert this board, and many of the MS boards, that this service is available. The TOUCH enrollment process is proceeding, with approximately 20 sites being enrolled every business day.
In the meantime, we are working on getting a list of TOUCH-enrolled infusion sites, many of which (per Neuro's comments earlier) are the very MS centers that are prescribing Tysabri, up on the www.MSPatientsForChoice.org website. Thanks to the significant efforts of several members of this board, we should be able to have Google links that will show the precise location of each infusion site for every part of the United States (EU patients are still on their own . . .). Thank you to all who are assisting with this effort.
Assistance to MS Patients with Unduly Burdensome Insurance Co-Payments
Some insurers are requiring co-payments of as much as ten percent (10%) of the total cost of Tysabri and the infusion, approximately $300 or so per infusion (about $4,000 annually for the typical 13 infusions). Most co-payments are lower. We are working with Biogen in an effort to reduce these co-payments as much as possible, and programs have been set up to assist MS patients who are unable to afford large co-payments. Our initial goal is that the Tysabri co-payments should be no higher, as a percentage of the total cost, than for the CRABs.
If you find your co-payment unduly burdensome after you have been enrolled in the TOUCH program and have been approved for insurance reimbursement, ask your case manager at MS ActiveSource (1-800-456-2255) to direct you to the various assistance programs that have been set up.
If you have problems, contact www.MSPatientsForChoice.Org at admin@mspatientsforchoice.org and we will do what we can to provide assistance. We are continuing to consider converting MS Patients For Choice to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (so that donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed under IRS laws and regulations -- consult your tax advisor), and then do some fund raising to assist MS patients with their co-payments.
For those of you who post on the various MS patient websites, I encourage you to post this information.
Thanks.
LovesJohnDory
MS ActiveSource and MS Patients For Choice
In the next week or so, people can call MS ActiveSource at 1-800-456-2255, give them a ZIP Code, and they will be able to provide contact information for a couple of nearby TOUCH-enrolled neurologists and infusion centers. I was told ten days ago that this was being put in place, but it is still not quite ready. Today, I received an email from my contact at BIIB explaining the delay:
The customer service team followed up after our conversation and do have this process near completion. Because everything takes place in a very controlled environment for Tysabri, IT programs need to be written and checked, SOPs need to be developed and implemented, and training needs to take place. This take some time. However, please rest assured the team is working on it actively to assure that this service is available to patients interested in locating a physician. At present, we do have a process to help identify infusion sites for patients who have been enrolled.
As soon as this is up and running, we will alert this board, and many of the MS boards, that this service is available. The TOUCH enrollment process is proceeding, with approximately 20 sites being enrolled every business day.
In the meantime, we are working on getting a list of TOUCH-enrolled infusion sites, many of which (per Neuro's comments earlier) are the very MS centers that are prescribing Tysabri, up on the www.MSPatientsForChoice.org website. Thanks to the significant efforts of several members of this board, we should be able to have Google links that will show the precise location of each infusion site for every part of the United States (EU patients are still on their own . . .). Thank you to all who are assisting with this effort.
Assistance to MS Patients with Unduly Burdensome Insurance Co-Payments
Some insurers are requiring co-payments of as much as ten percent (10%) of the total cost of Tysabri and the infusion, approximately $300 or so per infusion (about $4,000 annually for the typical 13 infusions). Most co-payments are lower. We are working with Biogen in an effort to reduce these co-payments as much as possible, and programs have been set up to assist MS patients who are unable to afford large co-payments. Our initial goal is that the Tysabri co-payments should be no higher, as a percentage of the total cost, than for the CRABs.
If you find your co-payment unduly burdensome after you have been enrolled in the TOUCH program and have been approved for insurance reimbursement, ask your case manager at MS ActiveSource (1-800-456-2255) to direct you to the various assistance programs that have been set up.
If you have problems, contact www.MSPatientsForChoice.Org at admin@mspatientsforchoice.org and we will do what we can to provide assistance. We are continuing to consider converting MS Patients For Choice to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (so that donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed under IRS laws and regulations -- consult your tax advisor), and then do some fund raising to assist MS patients with their co-payments.
For those of you who post on the various MS patient websites, I encourage you to post this information.
Thanks.
LovesJohnDory