oh, oh, and then i call my rheumy's office to switch my appointment form wed to thurs (no problem there) and they told me that my rheumy is leaving the practice.

so now i'm trying to figure out if i should throw up my hands and say 'f*ck it' and find a different rheumy, or go see her and... i don't know. ugh.

we can commiserate together Steph, ok?

Blue cross stalled completion of my case management review for orencia for infusion for weeks and weeks and weeks until I was within a week of this insurance ending. then Blue Cross approved it one day. then blue cross insurance was cancelled the next.

Now.........the new insurance wants its own brand new shiny pre-auth and I have been told another 4 weeks for that.

this is that orencia infusion I have been talking about.

i have to say, bluntly, I showed up in the rheumie's office yep in girly tears this morning (enough is enough) and was told to use the injection ( I have two injections left over in the fridge of orencia) because it is going to be longer than a month to get to the actual infusion date for orencia on the NEW insurance (per my rheumie, you have to be off the orencia injection one month before you can go on the orencia infusion)

Frankly i am not sure what one stand alone injection is going to do, since I will be forced to wait another month, after it, to get to the infusion.

the fastest people in the whole thing? oh that's easy. Bristol Meyer, the money people................the used car dealer............oh sorry I mean the manufactuer.....they were whooooooooooooooosh. wonder why?

I raise your ugh and add an I give up

Depot

Ok first off ask your Rhumey if they have any Humira samples. We had to switch over the beginning of this year to a Specialty pharmacy and were not sure if it would arrive in time.... my Rhumey handed me a box with 2 pens in it, just in case I couldn't get it in time.

Second.... I have Aetna also and their Specialty pharmacy is very fast and real nice. Get phone # for doc to call in the prescription, you should get a phone call that night asking details, and confirming a delievery date.
Do you have the Humira co-pay card? Make sure you give them that # when you talk to them so that they can bill them too.

Good luck!
Cindy

Boy, the suckage quotient on specialty pharmacies & insurance approvals has skyrocketed. You both have my sympathies.

Steph, this one may have a silver lining. I know you're not crazy about Humira, and I don't think you're nuts about your rheumy. This may be the big signal that it's time to move on from both. You could also keep the appointment this week and see if they can spot you a dose of Humira until yours gets to you.

Depot, that's some real fine passive-aggressive behavior on the part of Big Blue.

@cindy, i've had NOTHING but problems with aetna's specialty pharma from day one. i was thrilled to find another specialty pharma that would help... of course aetna won't allow it. the specialty pharma got stuff rolling in under 24 hours, took the humira copay assistance card, and BILLED me for the remainder - i didn't need to pay over the phone.

@alto i was kind of thinking along those lines. i'm tempted to just order the humira and find a new rheumy now, but i figure i should go on thursday so i can at least get my blood drawn to check my levels. and i highly doubt that aetna will let me get away with one month on humira and let me try something else... :/

oh and depot, ugh. you've had too many insurance pitfalls, i can't imagine the crap you must feel. gentle hugs.

Yeah that is an idea I forgot about...some drs will give you samples to tide you over!