Have you talked to your doctor about this? Because I am on Medicaid also and my Medicare Part D provider gets switched every now and then due to it's cost. I have found that if the doctor doesn't think you should switch to a different medication etc that he can contact the Insurance provider and they will go ahead cover it!! That has been my experience. I am on Symbicort and Spiriva. I was once on Advair and Combivent but my doctor switched them.

I use tiova-tiotropium bromide caps from ADC (alldaychemist.com). Six month supply runs around $70.30. Six months of spiriva runs around $2,064.00....I've been using tiova for over six months and it is every bit as good as spiriva. Check it out. My pulmonologist is aware that I use tiova and he has no problem with it. I am still involved with a pulmonary rehab program. I have stage 3 emphysema.

Bob

Question for Scott. I just have plain medicare, and did not get part D because I was told by them that they did not cover inhalers, only pills. I have state insurance also, so it is no problem, but since they do not cover inhalers, which I have more of than pills, I did not get any. So the question is, are you getting coverage for your inhalers with medicare part D? It may be the medicaid is what is covering your inhalers???
BJ

My pulmonologist is also aware that I use tiova tiotropium bromide (the generic for spiriva) from All Day Chemist

http://www.alldaychemist.com/tiova-rotacaps-with-rotahaler.html

I also get symbicort and my rescue inhalers from ADC.

There is a $25 flat rate shipping/handling fee regardless of how much or how little you order. That's why many of us order 6 months supply at a time.

BTW, there are many of us here on this forum (and other copd forums) who buy their medications from ADC.

This is exactly what drives me up a wall - confusion abounds!! I (so far) am getting through 2014 without any major health insurance issues for a change, but for 2015 - no guarantees.

1) I agree with irscott in terms of checking with your doctor to see if they will get your insurance provider to cover it . Since spiriva is working for you, I'd try to stick with it; however, not covering spiriva may be a heads up to look for other insurance 2) Re-ck other "Part D" insurance options for Spiriva in your area along with cost, convenience, other meds, "nice to have" extras

This year I have Medicare Advantage --> United Health Care --> Care Improvement Plus (symbicort, spiriva, ventolin). Next year - I don't know; just started reading the 200+ pages, searching medicare.gov and aarp.org online. Chances are I'll be at this a month before I THINK I'm making the right choice - it ain't easy.

Tiova is the same ingredient as Spiriva.

BJ I just saw your question. I just received the notice from Humana about my new coverage starting January that gave me the co-pay amounts. I just erased about 2 pages I wrote. Theses statements don't make much since. Because I am SO poor I get "Extra Help" from Medicare.. I am going to give an example of why I erased everything. I am with United American right now. Bear in mind that they adjust the statements. But here is what they show:
July Statement(year to date amounts)
Paid by Plan $1784.02 Me $119.45 Extra Help $1972.82
September(year to date also)
Paid by Plan $1126.82 Me $114.85 Extra Help $ 2920.64

Don't ask me how they came up those figures ...It is like they change them any way they want!! How the plan amounts went down along with my amounts paid. Those are year to date and went down????? They adjust it thru Extra Care.
Plan amounts include part of inhaler amount but as you can see it may change to being paid by Extra Care at a later date.
Anyway......I am just plain poor!!!! You have to be on low income level to get it. In 2013 Handbook Medicare & You see Section 7 .
That is how it works for me BJ.
You just have to be poor to get it.....I don't want wish that on anybody here
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

BJ Read the above!! The 2015 Medicare & You has Extra Help in Section 8 page 111

Thanks Scott, I did have one of those books. I will read it.
Situation with me is I have State insurance for retirees, and it is free, and it is Scott and White. Now just about everything in central Texas is part of the scott and white network.
So when they offered us Humana advantage, and said we would have to lose our state insurance (Humana also would still be free to us) I started checking,
and no where at a scott and white facility did they take Humana!! They all said they had problems collecting their money.
Of course all my doctors are with scott and white, so I did not change. All I pay for anything is copays for meds or inhalers.
I understand poor, I am only a few dollars ahead of you, but I seem to have a better setup with medicare a & b and my state plan.
Since my inhalers have the costliest co pays, I thought of part D, but they do not do unhalers, or at least that is the way I understand it....Maybe I do need to read that book.
Thanks for your answer
BJ

jmer;
I thought of changing my spiriva also because of Part D.
i am too rich for ANY help, too poor to afford 300 bucks a month for an inhaler.
walmart retail prices for different "Maintenance" inhalers per month.
Spiriva= $299.41
Dulera AER 100-5mcg=$246.68
Turdoza Pressair AER 400/ACT= $263.46
Brovana NEB 15mcg= $345.06

do to the prices, even if i find a PartD plan that covers the cost; and if i had NO OTHER medications i would go into the "donut hole/gap" before the end of the year (with my other medications i take i would go into the donut hole in May)
for those who get "extra help" or "medicaid" they do not understand this....

hence

Scott; you have to understand the "donut hole/gap"
Coverage Gap (donut hole):
begins once you reach your Medicare Part D plans initial coverage limit ($2,960 in 2015) and ends when you spend a total of $4,700 in 2015.
so, if my plan & i pay/reach $2,960.00 i pay out of pocket for my perscriptions (while still paying my monthly premium) until I PAY $4700.00.
then it goes back to my part D paying for my perscriptions again.

then as jmer1109 originally asked, each part D company decided which maintenance inhaler they will pay for as they only have to cover 1 of any type of medicine.

bj= original medicare will pay for "a machine" like our 02 concentrators OR a nebulizer; but they won't pay for the medicine to go in them.
since Inhalers are not considered machines original medicare won't pay for them.

like i said in my Part D topic= it's the government so it can't be easy.
by the way the 'donut hole/gap' was "invented" in 2006 and is supposed to be "phased out" by 2020 (if i live so long it will be a happy day)

and this is why people go to a foriegn country to buy spiriva (tiova) thru ADC.
personally, foreign medicine scares me so i got help directly from Spiriva and they send me my medication every 3 months for free. (long story on how to do that---but EVERY company has some kind of option for those of us "stuck in the middle of being rich or poor")

oops, sorry for legnth----i am just soooo frustrated trying to figure out this year PartD *blush*

Too expensive to be sick....... taking care of myself from here on out. It's bad enough you have to be so ill but then they try to squeeze every last drop out of you before you go those rotters. Canada somewhat better than most places, at my rate of income I pay the first 600 or so bucks divided by 12 months (worked out with the pharmacy the 12 month division) and anything over that 600 is covered.

jarca.... I have "Extra Help" being low income with Medicaid. The so-called "donut hole" has no effect on me. See Medicare and You Section 8 about Extra Help. There are four stages on my Plan. Stage 1 Yearly Deductible Stage 2 Initial Coverage Stage 3 is Coverage Gap (at the $2960 you mention) and Stage 4 Catastrophic Coverage

The Stages 1 and 3 don't apply to me. All covered by Extra Help.

jmer1109 .... I am sure that my situation confused you more. I am looking at the Medicare Handbook. The handbook for 2015 hasn't upgraded the low income amounts but for it shows 2014's amounts right now. The income levels Quote:
"Extra Help is a Medicare program to help people with limited income and resources pay Medicare prescription drug costs. You may qualify for Extra Help if your yearly income and resources are below these limits in 2014:
Single person-income less than $17,505 and resources less than $13,440 per year
Married persons living with a spouse and no other dependents- income less than $23,595 and resources less than $23,860 per year.
These amounts may change for 2015."
It elaborates on resources etc.
I guess I spoke to soon in my first comment without thinking about my situation being different from most. At least you got a little education on the subject if you can make anything of it.
Everybody have a good Saturday.............Scott

Jarca, is that a picture of a real racoon in your backyard? Adorable....
Enrollment..this is still so pitiful.- most of us have been dealing with this for years; and it continues.

Someone a few replies back mentioned Humana. I do recall a comparison report last year indicated that Humana was slow in making their payments; and therefore was given a low rating withiin a specific region (probably SC since I wouldn't have been looking at other regions.) Like so many other of life's options - it depends on who's waiting your table.

If you are on Medicare and don't have Prescription Drug coverage, you should get some kind of Prescription drug coverage. The accumulation of the penalty will just get worse the longer the delay. The penalty is related to Years on Medicare. I had the penalty automatically deducted from my SS; and hence was relieved when I had an increase in SS when the penalty was paid in full.

As I said - Grrr!