JUST CURIOUS -What is the cost of your medications?

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littlemisssilly

Guest
Hi Eli,

Not everyone is entitled to a health care card. I'm not entitled to one because I work (mind you, I only can work three days / week) and I earn over the income threshold. You need to be entitled to some sort of Centrelink benefit before you can receive a Health care card. I think if I go to work only one day per week, that puts me over the income threshold!!

As far as my scripts go, like Wuffles said, $30 per script (for the meds covered on the Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme) per month which is just so expensive considering I take 6 prescriptions per month (ie pulmozyme, inhalers, creon, x2 antibiotics, insulin). Then there's Nasonex ($40 / month) and not to mention all the 'extras' like glucometer testing strips, nasal washes, vitamins....... I spend over $200 / month on meds, it's awfully expensive and there's no other way around it! Thanks for letting me vent!
 
A

anonymous

New member
Hi Littlemissilly,

We too are over the income threshold, as my husband earns a very high salary. I don't work, i am a full time mum of Olivia w/cf, but his income still puts us over and we are still entitled to a health care card and another parenting allowance which you might not be entitled to unless you are a parent of a cfer.
I will ask my husband about this, and then get back to you, now i'm a little confused.

I'm sadned, that you have to pay that much money for meds a month. Its just not fare, you didn't ask for this but you have to do what keeps you healthy.

Take care
Eli(mum of Olivia 16mnths w/cf)
 
J

JennifersHope

New member
OKay, I thought I had good insurance till I read this...

I pay on average $300.00 a month when I am healthy and on no antibiotics except for TObi. I pay that every month and have for a long time, when I am on antibiotics we have paid up to $1000.00 in one month...This does not include vitamins or anything else...

I am on a ton of meds though, between CF and Addison's...
 
K

kybert

New member
i live in perth eli. by the way, when your daughter turns 16 you wont be eligble for the health care card anymore. at 16 she will need to apply for the disability pension. if she is relatively healthy at 16 you will need to reaaalllyy exaggerate her symptoms to get it otherwise she wont have a hope in hell. unfortunately this is the only way to get medications at the health care card/pension rate once you turn 16. it would be much easier and save the government so much money just to hand out another health care card instead of having to pay out extra money to people for unecessary pensions.
 
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wuffles

New member
Yep, you can only get a health care card if you are on some kind of Centrelink benefit (including family payments). I work full-time as does my partner, so there is no way we qualify for any of them. Eli, you would get Family Tax Benefit Part B as you are a single income family. You probably also get a child disability payment which isn't much but still helps.

The only consolation, which doesn't really help me, is the PBS safety net. I think it's set at something like $800 for a single person and I don't go much over that per year so never really benefit from it. I'm lucky right now because I don't need *that* many prescriptions but I still spend at least $100/month once you include vitamins etc.

As Kylie said, you really do have to exaggerate to get that pension once you turn 16! The question ask if you need help bathing, etc. Um no, I still have arms and legs, but that doesn't mean I don't need any support. My friend was rejected for the pension when he turned 16 and he passed away when he was 18. Go figure.

Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
 
A

anonymous

New member
Thanks again guuy's. Kylie and Emma you were both right about what you said, i checked with my husband and he said the same thing. Last time i dealt with this was when Olivia was diagnosed, it doesn't take me long to forget (bad memory, its coming back to me now).

Although, i still think its unfair we have enough daily expences. The least the govnm't can do is help people with lifelong illneses, for life rather than cutting them off at age 16 when you wnat to begin to enjoy life as a teenager, and not pay for ridiculous medical expences. Enough rambling, sorry needed to vent it just realy bugs me.

Eli
 
K

kybert

New member
we actually answered yes to the do you need help bathing question. we were advised to do this by someone at the cf association. we were thinking that answering yes was just absurd as i only need help if im really sick, but they said that even if you do something on the odd occasion then it counts as a yes.

i totally agree that the government needs to do more to help people with chronic illnesses. they give so much money away to people who dont deserve it yet the truly needy go without. "hey, lets go give 7000 bucks to someone because they can afford to build a house! or how about giving certain races pensions for nothing just so we can come across as warm and fuzzy! woopeeee!" *shudder*
 
E

eli

New member
YEAH, my conputer finaly let me log in.

Anyway, Kylie you got me started i'm sooooo p***d off. I know of a family who are perfectly healthy and have been on centrelink payments all their life. They have 7 chn and all their chn don't work, they never oops sorry except for two. All tthe others get the doll.
Now what realy f***k annoys me is that they have had two bad car accidents and the whole family received compo payout twice, and complain they are injured. But when i have seen them they look perfctly healthy walking the streets with no back, leg arm pain, no chest/lung pain as they say breathing difficulty shopping for new cloths and going on holiday overseas every year.
Me an dmy husband both worked, now i'm a stay at home mum. He works and earns a good salary, but we still struggle with home loans and bills and meds. We havn't been on an overseas trip since Thailand for our honeymoon. I was born overseas and havn't seen my family for 24yrs, and still can't afford to go.

Sorry venting again and a little off topic.
Eli
 
K

kybert

New member
lol you should get today tonight or a current affair to catch them out!!! they always love catching centrelink cheats. i know a few people like that. they have the most pettiest injuries yes they get centrelink as well as their compo payouts. another thing that annoys me are young people with well off parents who get austudy just because they happen to be students. this should be reserved for really poor students who need the money for books, tuition fees or if they live away from home etc. not for rich kids who live at home and who spend the money on luxury items! australia is land of the handouts.
 
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eli

New member
I agree with you 100%, Kylie. That makes me so mad.
Eg: when our baby was i hosp for 6wks, no one gave a s**t that we had to pay rent to be near her, pay off our morgage, pay bills, travel and other expences. The govn't did s**t all to help in any way even though we were struggling mentaly and financially, whilst others are enjoying holidays at the expence of others.
Oh, there are so many instances i can complian about, but i'm not going to bother rambling on and boring you.

Thanks for listening
Eli
 
W

wuffles

New member
Oh guys, you have made me want to complain too, lol. At least someone else out there understands. I just wish they'd give people who have more medical expenses than others health care cards! It's a bit depressing when I get paid, most goes straight to rent/groceries/petrol etc, and an awful lot of the rest goes to meds. Other people see pay day as being able to go out and buy a $100 outfit, where I see it as a good time to go fill my prescriptions. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the money I do make and am slowly saving, but it still annoys me so much!
 
A

anonymous

New member
Hi there, it's Littlemisssilly (aka LB) here...

While we're all 'releasing' our negative energies...I just couldn't resist and have add my two cents in.... because of the $250 (sometimes $300 / month) that I spend on meds, I am unbale to afford private health insurnace as this would mean another $70 / month on top of what I already pay, I would love to have private health cover but I just cannot afford it.

It always perplexes me as to why our Federal government refuses to issue those with chronic disabilities with Health Care cards whilst at the same time making pathetic pledges to encourage everyone into private health funds to ease pressure on the over-burdened public health system. If I had access to a health care card, with the money saved on my meds, I could easily afford private health insurance and essentially 'cost' the government less money for my inpatient treatments because I wouldn't have to be treated / admitted in a public hospital!
 
K

kybert

New member
i agree with you on the private insurance lb. the governments attempts to encourage private insurance are pathetic. do they not realise that most people cannot afford to pay out an extra 100 bucks a month? they make it sounds so damn easy and like your life will be so much better when you get that insurance.

and what gets me is that i have top hospital cover at the moment and i cant even use it for cf treatment! no cf treatment available at private hospitals in perth. sometimes i wonder why the hell i even have insurance! the only thing i have used it for are sinus surgeries, wisdoms and port surgery which could all be done at a public hospital anyway. it would be cheaper for me [well, my parents] to have no insurance and to just save the money for those procedures or go public. im just not getting my moneys worth out of it when i cant use it for my cf.
 
R

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
DS is on my husband's insurance. Meds we pay a $15 copay and 20% until we reach $1000 out of pocket maximum and then we pay $15 a drug. FIrst time I picked up tobi the copay was $536 for a months supply. I thought the pharmacy intern was going to cry. I'd been warned, so I had an idea, but she just kept shaking her head and insisting it must be wrong. We've since signed up for the tobi foundation program -- if your copay is larger than $25, they'll pay it -- have to go thru the CF Services pharmacy though. Pulmozyme runs about $1500 for a months supply (once a day) before insurance. It's my understanding that company also has an assistance program.

DS also has a number of suspension (liquid) drugs that expire or run out after 7-14 days, so the pharmacy gives me a month supply of the powder and I can mix it at home. Otherwise I was running to the pharmacy at least once a week.

Liza mom to a 2 3/4 year old
 
A

anonymous

New member
Currently, our med copays are $10/20/30 per month depending on what tier the drug is on. It's one of the better drug cards Anthem of Indiana (in the US obviously) has. Unfortunately, we were told our carrier is changing and the best drug card they can offer our employees is 10/25/40 and a 4th tier for the high end drugs which will be 50% copay/month to a max of $2500 out of pocket for the fourth tier. We have 5 with different chronic health problems and our copays currently add up to $300-500/month for meds. With the new tiers, we can add significantly more. Throw in $500/person deductibles, 20% coinsurance for everything except office visit copays and it adds up.

One problem in the US with drugs is that we don't have price caps pharmaceutical companies can charge for drugs like other countries do. We definitely need them and we need to stop this supposed "free trade" where we don't charge tariffs for incoming products even though we still have to pay tariffs to many of the same countries whom we allow to sell here without tariffs (IE China.) Just my 2 cents.
 
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