DURec

If it had happened before, I would be tens of thousands of dollars in debt right now, with my very little SS income.

Medicare for all...now.

Sorry about your new expense.

...but it is the cases of so many others that are concerning. (There was a time in my life where it would have been impossible for me to fill this prescription. )

I agree we need national health care, but under the orange pedophile the best we can hope for is to have as much of the ACA intact as is possible. It's not looking promising.

These are very bad times.

Check it out. you will save thousands $$$$$

I believe we can still order from Canada. I haven't yet but will probably do so if possible.

healthcare and medications. I honestly don't know how Americans do it.

Just ordered a refill on one of my meds. Usually around $10 after insurance. Now it is $200 after insurance. Pharmacy says that is the cost now and has no idea why. They suggested contacting the manufacturer to see if they have any discounts.

This is getting nuts. Almost all of my meds have increased in price after insurance since Jan 1 2026.

to go up

It's for temporal lobe epilepsy. The only drug that's ever worked & I've tried them all.

...it doesn't fall off the patent cliff until 2032.

Chemically, if it is what I think it is, it's a fairly simple molecule, accessible from cheap reagents. Off the patent cliff, I'd imagine it would be cheap

I hope you can manage it and get support.

Best of luck.

I hate to shill for big pharma. I'm getting paid but I asked the sales manager if I could get a lifetime supply of the drug instead!



(Xcopri)

They may have specific limited patents beyond that, but as a veteran of the industry I'd expect generics in 2024.

The FDA lists the "last patent" as 2039, but that does not prevent sale of the drug applicable under other patents which may have expired including composition of matter.

The patent is held by the Korean company SK pharma.

The FDA has had 2 ANDAs submitted already. However, the best information I gather indicates a generic will be available in 2033.

Cenobamate is synthetically simple, with a single chiral center, but that is only part of the story. Formulation and pharmacokinetics may represent be a different problem entirely.

It costs a lot to develop a drug, even a simple drug, and I understand a profit motive, but on the other hand, we need to balance wealth with humanity. I have no simple formula to address this conundrum but certainly I wish you well and I hope you will gather as much assistance as possible in these terrible times and hope for better times for you and all others in need of Healthcare.

For the record, my son was born with a birth defect that often causes severe epilepsy, which happily he did not develop. I therefore appreciate the urgency of your care. Unfortunately we now have a government which appreciates nothing other than cruel greed.

Have great insurance and my co-pay was only $65.
The cost of keeping my vision.

it is a complicated issue. For instance, do most people know that Medicare costs 200.00 per person? and that is an 80/20 plan. So would a family of 4 be paying 800.00 or so per month and more if they choose a supplemental gap plan? I had worked in healthcare, RN, for 37 years until I retired at the end of 2020. Spent the last 15 years as a field case manager for Medicaid/Medicare. I was shocked at how many people were surprised that they had to pay for Medicare.

that asks about a family of 4 on Medicare. I'm wondering if you mean IF we had Medicare for all, which of course we don't currently have. Otherwise I doubt there's a family of 4 on Medicare now.

Not trying to nitpick but I had to read that twice to try to understand that statement.

I said if a family of 4 was on Medicare (obviously Medicare for All) the premium would be around 800 per month. My point is that Medicare is not free, nor is it cheap, especially since we pay Medicare tax.

Medicare.

part A is free. Medicare part B is 202.50 per month, starting- goes up per income. That is the premium for anyone on Medicare, right now. Disabled younger adults/children are on Medicare also. So not just 65 and up. And they don't care if you are low risk- same price for everyone.

But, I thought the cost of drugs was not included in meeting your deductible. Or is the $2100 a specific drug deductible?

Out of pocket, assuming I do not require hospitalization, drugs and payments per year are around $2700.

I believe that counts toward the $8,000 yearly maximum, co pays included.

I have lived a long and overall wonderful life with some pain, psychological and otherwise. My worth to society is not such that I would agree to spending hundreds of thousand dollars, my money or government money or even insurer's moneyfor extreme efforts to extend my life for short periods with low quality of life. On the other hand, a child with cancer or in need of heart surgery or the like should be supported by society. The money spent to keep Steven Hawkings alive was well spent, and this is surely the case for people nowhere near as famous or important as he was.

There is a point at which limited resources should be invested in the younger generations. I recall that the cost of my father's death from cancer resulting from his tobacco addiction was over $250,000, this in the 1990's, most of it incurred after the point there was no hope for survival although no one other than me recognized as much. It was insured, but I question whether it might not have been better to keep him comfortable as the end came rather than engage in the extreme measures peddled as "hope."

My $665 a month drug should extend my life for a longer period in which I may remain useful, but it would not be appropriate if there were no hope for recovery from some other syndrome. It might actually be cruel in that case.

This may be controversial to say, but as an old man staring down mortality, it's how I feel.

Your remaining time with a clear head and open heart full of love.

Full pneumonia, tubes inserted , hospitalization for a month and now in rehab for 8 weeks. Just had the last tubes taken out, on a walker, and now eating real food again. Age 53. Out of pocket costs were $20,000. The total bill uninsured would have been just over a million. Insane.

obama care(d). (t)rump doesn’t.

I had a drug that was going to be $700 for 18 pills, and I could get the exact same thing for $120 from Canada.

My first dose was covered by Medicare Part D and I had already blown through my $2,000 limit. So the charge was $0.

If I decide to get a refill this month, I'll have a copay of $1,800 - still a lot more than I can easily pay.

I saw on my Part D provider (Humana) portal that they paid the $14,799 the last time. I wonder how much of this is "real" money and not just shuffling numbers between big corps.

On Medicare that is the annual out of pocket cap.

My anti-depressant is about $175 if I file it through insurance. About $37 if I don't and use Good RX.

The only thing beyond that you need to understand is that if you are using lots of medications and have a relatively low out of pocket cap, you may be costing yourself in the long run because meds bought without insurance don't count toward that cap.

I'll never hit the cap (my spend is $1-200/year. So if GoodRx (or Costco) is cheaper I buy there.
My spouse is taking so many meds that she'll hit the $2100 cap (after which all meds are free to her). So it doesn't matter that GoodRx is cheaper - she only has to pay $2100 under insurance, so buying GoodRx actually costs money (since she is paying that on top of the $2100)

You have to admit, that whole situation is just ridiculous. Why does going thru the insurance company wind up costing more? And what is the whole arrangement with Good Rx? Why are we forced to have to do this at all? It’s like knowing some secret password and getting a free back stage pass versus paying a fortune and getting Third Row Balcony.

Just so there is no misunderstanding, I am happy we have Good Rx. I just don’t see why we aren’t automatically getting it at that price to begin with.

On the 50-75 or cheaper, insurance is generally better. Above $2-300, insurance is generally about the same. But in that middle range most of our meds are cheaper from Costco or GoodRx (they tend to be about the same).

I was shocked the first year I did my annual price check for Medicare Part D. We saved between $1000 and $2000 buying about half of our meds from Costco without insurance. So now I check it every year. Last year, for the first time, insurance was competitive on all but one drug. This year it's back to about 50-50.

The only reason we're buying most of my spouse's meds through Part D is the out-of-pocket cap. Meds bought without insurance don't count toward the cap, and her meds are expensive enough she will hit the cap this year.

For 2 years. It ended after six months. When I went to get a refill, it was $800. A month.

It’s OTC in Europe, Canada, and Asia for about $20, but here…

I'm cutting back on mine, because hubby's is much more important to his health, IMO. They are keeping his blood pressure down and the heart attacks at bay. I'm still trying to pay off one of his trips to the ER and a week stay at the hospital. I'd rather avoid that, even if I have to work around my problems. The only thing I insist on for me is my pain pills. Luckily, though they've gone up in price, we can still afford them. And if I'm to do anything around this house, I need them... that includes trying to keep my husband from doing stupid stuff like snow shoveling!

I seem to recall that Obama, in his first month of office, offered to NOT pursue Medicare being able to negotiate drug prices, if "everyone" backed his signature ACA program........

If you think I don't remember correctly, then correct me, and tell me...... WHY did he have all EIGHT years to at least TRY to accomplish negotiation of Drug prices for Medicare, and I don't recall ever hearing word one from him about it???????......

Medicare Drug Pricing is the Pharmaceutical Drug Companies......"CASH COW".......

My GP gave me a prescription for some medication or other, and said I could pick it up at the CVS on Preston Road. I went there, gave them my name, and was told the little bottle of pills would cost $1050. I said WTF????? You gotta be kidding! I said, sorry, there was no way I was paying that. The pharmacy then said, well, hold on, maybe we have a coupon. "A coupon??" What in the world was that supposed to mean? I never was told what "a coupon" means in pharmaceutical terms, but in monetary terms, it means the price of the pills went from $1050 down to $20.47 (or however many cents it was).

Whatever is going on with the cost of health care in the States, it's beyond weird, and I am betting it is fatal to more than a few random patients from whom no "coupons" can be found.

It's obscene that individuals and corporations can and do get filthy rich off of human suffering.

I'm on Team "health care (including medication) is a human right" myself.

I cannot afford to replace them. So, I will be taking half ones until I can get more of them.

Even then, I am not sure I will have enough to make it to the next time my husband gets paid.

I don't do 'suffering', so this has to stop. One way or the other. I am not picky as to which one it is.