scott; due to me working & putting into a 401k type "annuity" savings that has a "bulk amount" which i receive a small monthly pay from; i don't qualify for extra help either.
any savings, retirement, annuitys, 401k, IRA's etc, that people who worked & planned to retire on now hurts us.
who knew i was going to be disabled before the age of 62/65 years old!

and yes joany, remember i got hit with the late enrollment penalty, for not joining a part D when first eligible; that i have to pay a monthly fee for the rest of my life (or until i reach 65)

if you are not poor, if you worked & saved all your life for retirement, but live on a "low fixed income", it comes back & kicks you in the butt. middle class pays to run this country.

on another note; my avatar is "bob", found at a worksite almost dead, bottle fed & survived to the ripe old age of 15 years old. he loved that peice of pipe & his "kiddy swimming pool". note; i saved him so i cared for him all his life. i loved bob & he didn't have a "mean" bone in his body, but raccoons are not "good" pets so don't try LOL
(2nd time i was "brought" a raccoon (earl) to save, i had learned & i raised with as little human contact as possible, taught it to hunt & was able to release it to the wild.
the end
:)

I know all about being disabled before 62/65. I am 60 now and this disease disabled me 12 years ago!!! I owned two businesses that never did well enough to provide a 401K. One of them was TaxWorks!!
I did a lot of taxes and watched a lot of people withdraw there 401's. I hated to see them do it but I never could stop them. Pay for it later!!

hi! so sorry about your insurance/meds dilemma. I switched from Spiriva to Tudorza...it's similar to Spiriva in the sense that you crush the pill then inhale but you don't have to actively insert the pill...it comes in the form of an inhaler...you push the button & inhale, the window is green after you push the button then you inhale until it changes back to red...the only problem I've had with this is that when I'm really SOB I can't inhale enough to get the window to change colors. Also, I've noticed a bad taste like you get when you let an aspirin sit on your tongue too long. hope this helps!

I wish there were more comments on the this site regarding the costs of the inhalers and meds from Canadians. I am among the very low income group that does get some help once I have spent $1300 but that amount is based on what Pharmacare "deems" what each medication costs, not what you actually pay. I have been fortunate in that one of my sons (and his in-laws) go to Mexico each winter. Spiriva and Advair (Seretide) are able to be bought off the shelf at $9 and $29 respectively. Last year my Dr. gave them my prescriptions complete with photos and they were able to shop the pharmacies for me. There were only a few items that were not considerably less but of course they could not bring back anything that was considered a narcotic like Ativan. I would use ADC too but I cannot get enough money ahead to make the order big enough to pay. Thank heavens for Sons!