Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

2,179 Members
16,355 Posts
0 Online
Muscles & Bones
/ Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

amazed by RA Doc's words

nonightshades
nonightshades
I'll keep it short. Saw RA this morning, said to continue plaqu and mtx and wanted to also start on humira. Said things had progressed to that point. Guessing what he saw in hands and feet was prompt. Anyway, as he finished typing the script to pharmacy started speaking less than good things about the pharm industry, detail explanation of their development and manufacturing costs, how they were and had been manipulating the market via congress to get as much money as they "could squeeze out of everybody". He continued to say the insurance and pharmaceutical companies had become so top heavy and profit driven that they were going to eventually collapse under their own weight. OMG, have I been transported into an alternate universe? Thank you Doctor!
rackerby
rackerby
If he was about to prescribe Humira, he knew that he was giving you a drug that costs upwards of $1000/dose but shouldn't. He may also have known your insurance company wasn't about to pay for it unless you had gone through 2 or 3 of the less expensive DMARD's, which may be why he said you had "had progressed to that point" by taking MTX and Plaquenil first.

His comments are obviously right on point. It must be frustrating to be a Rheumatologist and to deal with it every day.
coaltrain
coaltrain
I just can't help thinking of the actual cost of the Humira each time I give myself a shot. I get a monthly report from my insurance company citing what they have paid for each Rx - the Humira (2 pens) was $1962.83.

I almost feel guilty in a way - but it does help me quite a bit so just pass it off as this is the way the world works that we live in today.....
Trooper45yrs
Trooper45yrs
Coaltrain, I felt the same way for the longest time. That is, until I felt like my life was actually over due to RA. It had gotten so bad, I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to even move, afraid I would lose my job, my independence, and everything that meant anything to me. But since I have been back on another biologic, and because I feel that it has given me my life back, I feel like it is worth a million bucks.

I see the cost on the label when they ship it to me... it's over $3000 for one month, but with the co-pay assistance I get, I only have to pay $10. There is no way I could even begin to pay the actual cost of this medicine. I guess, where I'm going on this is, I don't feel guilty about the cost anymore. It's all a big business thing between the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies.

Also, I am about to start a new discussion here on Biosimilars (they will be cheaper).
altoclef
altoclef
Nightshades, every doctor I have ever heard broach the subject has said that they think single-payer is the only way to go. We forget that our MDs are getting shafted just as much as we are by these big healthcare and insurance companies. Fool that I am, I still believe most doctors went into the field for all the right reasons. Over the last couple of decades, though, their loss of autonomy and ability to practice the way they would like has been destroyed by thems that's got the $$$. I treasure the ones like my rheumy, endocrinologist, and primary that have held fast to solo or two-person practices without corporate "oversight".