be proactive - don' t wait for Biogen, they're swamped
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 3:19 pm
Hi,
After waiting almost 2 months for Biogen to get something set up, I took matters into my own hands.
1. 9 a.m. Called Blue Cross insurance - they said they'd cover it if the doctor would fax in info supporting the need for Tysabri. They also indicated that the infusion center (only one in the phone book) was in-network.
2. called the infusion center who said to have the doctor fax in the prescription and supporting notes. They also said they would be glad to take care of the insurance stuff.
3. called the ms clinic and asked them to send the rx to the infusion center.
4. called Biogen to tell them I had things taken care of. They said they would fax the rx to the infusion center as well, and apologized for the delay.
5. an hour later the infusion center called to ask for my insurance info. They had not bothered to get it from Biogen as I had had a few home infusions of steroids a few years ago and thus they had my info. But the insurance id's are no longer the SSN, and my number was invalid now. They also said both the doctor and Biogen had faxed in the prescriptions.
6. 2pm - the infusion center called to say everything was set and scheduled the infusion for next Tuesday!
Biogen was telling me last night it could take another month or two to actually get an infusion. I wish I had realized sooner I could just get things set up myself. I can hardly believe though just how quickly things happened - 5 hours from first call to infusion scheduling. Maybe other insurances are different, but if you have Blue Cross, just call them yourself. Look for "infusion" in the Yahoo yellow pages to find a site.
After waiting almost 2 months for Biogen to get something set up, I took matters into my own hands.
1. 9 a.m. Called Blue Cross insurance - they said they'd cover it if the doctor would fax in info supporting the need for Tysabri. They also indicated that the infusion center (only one in the phone book) was in-network.
2. called the infusion center who said to have the doctor fax in the prescription and supporting notes. They also said they would be glad to take care of the insurance stuff.
3. called the ms clinic and asked them to send the rx to the infusion center.
4. called Biogen to tell them I had things taken care of. They said they would fax the rx to the infusion center as well, and apologized for the delay.
5. an hour later the infusion center called to ask for my insurance info. They had not bothered to get it from Biogen as I had had a few home infusions of steroids a few years ago and thus they had my info. But the insurance id's are no longer the SSN, and my number was invalid now. They also said both the doctor and Biogen had faxed in the prescriptions.
6. 2pm - the infusion center called to say everything was set and scheduled the infusion for next Tuesday!
Biogen was telling me last night it could take another month or two to actually get an infusion. I wish I had realized sooner I could just get things set up myself. I can hardly believe though just how quickly things happened - 5 hours from first call to infusion scheduling. Maybe other insurances are different, but if you have Blue Cross, just call them yourself. Look for "infusion" in the Yahoo yellow pages to find a site.