Cosentyx - Week 1....and beyond....

[Kat]

Hi All!!   Been on Cosentyx since July 2015.   I am almost cleared up except for patch on my lower left leg which is starting to clear but very stubborn.   I still have a couple of spots on my forehead area which pop up and some behind my ears.   My inverse spot comes and goes.  Still have some side effects for about 1 to 5 days after my 2 injections....go to the bathroom more....headache, nausea.   Still on the ZERO co pay plan.  They said after January 1st they don't know what will happen.   My insurance will be with the same company but my coverage will NOT be as good as it is now.  Cosentyx is about 4,500 a month if you have to pay for it yourself.  Who can afford that!!  I am hopeful the zero co pay plan will still exist on January 1, 2016.  If I get BOOTED off of this drug I will be very upset.  I am hopeful they offer financial assistance or something so I can continue it.  My insurance has a prescription plan  but but now I will be responsible for probably about $3,000 a month instead of possibly $45 like it would be right now.   No one can shed any light on the matter.  I have called the people at Novartis as well as my insurance company.  They said it's a wait and see thing!   How convenient for them.....

Isn't the US insurance system great? Yes that was sarcasm!

Insurance is big business and if you follow the news there have been some problems with companies losing money on Obamacare. United Healthcare is even talking about leaving the healthcare marketplace due to their losses. We are also noticing some changes in our insurance for next year, higher costs and deductibles. It seems to me that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has only made things worse overall. Don't get me wrong, there should be healthcare available to all (and they should have looked at the existing system of Medicaid and have our already taxed dollars go towards insuring people as opposed to a Marketplace that insurance companies are going to have to increase rates to cover those that can't pay) Sorry, I'm getting a bit off topic here with my personal opinion.

There are prescription plans that you can add yourself (on top of your current insurance) but I've always been a bit leery of trying them. I'm constantly getting mail for them and even noticed at my last doc appointment that there was information on a few of them in his office. To me it's always looked like just someone else jumping on the insurance band wagon and wanting money to offer probably little in return, but I have heard some people say they are worth it so if all else fails, perhaps give that a look.

Have you already enrolled in your insurance for next year? You should be able to call them and see if they will continue your coverage on Cosentyx. At least then you will have a bit of a heads up on what will happen after the first of the year.

The ONLY advantage I think the US system has is the ability to choose your doctors and easily switch to another if not happy. I do like having that control. Sadly, that's about the only good thing I can think of anymore, as it costs dearly to have that choice. My primary doctor is even opting out of all insurance plans starting next year but that's a whole different subject.