This back to school supply is going to cut into my Disney budget...Epi Pen Increase

[JenB1104]

Anyone else affected by the increase in the Epi pen price? My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and we need to have epi pens at school, home and daycare - 3 boxes at over 600.00 per pack - over 1800.00! The savings card from the manufacturer only takes 100.00 off each box so they are a total of 1500.00 - not considered a preventive medication by insurance so it is subject to a deductible first. We are lucky we can afford to pay this to keep her safe, but I can't imagine the families who can't and the position they are in. Yikes - I could do another short Disney trip for this cost.

 

[Mofang]

Do you live near Canada? If it's feasible to make a road trip across the border, the prices there are dramatically lower - less than half of what you quoted here - and even better, they are sold over the counter at most pharmacies without a prescription (Shopper's Drug is one example). Could be worth the journey...

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Have you price shopped this? I recently saw a great thread on the budget board with medication tips.

 

[wendow]

My dd needs Epipens too for her severe peanut allergy. She is 16yo and actually had to use one for the first time this past May as she went into anaphylactic shock from accidental ingestion at school. Our medical insurance paid nothing towards the cost the refill the 2-pack and the furtherest date out they could give us was 7 mos! We paid $500 for pens that will expire in 7 mos and the school will require us to refill again. It's unbelievable to me that we are allowed to be ripped off this way. No advice, just lamenting with you. I have considered a trip to Canada but we are not anywhere close.

 

[barkley]

curious-how many pens does the school require you have on hand at any given time? I ask b/c my son has a couple of meds he MUST have at school and since he's in a program that takes him off campus (that won't permit anyone to administer his med except HIM) we've gotten into a situation wherein he technically needs 2 bottles of the meds-both of which must have current labels on them.

fortunately I don't pay much for a prescription BUT if it's a scrip that the doctor only prescribes as needed once a month then I'm out of pocket a horrendous amount to get a second bottle.

I finally had the school tell me what their 'line in the sand' policy on how many of these meds (within an individual bottle) ds was required to have on campus each day. when I found it was less than the number of one of his script bottles held I had the pharmacy do up a second bottle which I put half the supply into. the school notifies me when his supply is getting low so I retrieve the bottle and put some of my at home supply into it and return it to the school (I just keep all the normal refills on hand at home to provide to the school when needed).

if the pens come in multi packs of say 3 couldn't each location just get one (to be immediately replaced upon use) or at worst buy 2 boxes and provide each place with 2?

you may already be familiar with this but in case you are not-review The Network for Public Health Law website's section on Injury Prevention: Food Allergies. there are states that REQUIRE their schools acquire and stockpile epi pens for students w/documented need, there are states that medical provider write out scrips to the school who purchase (or have them donated by manufactures) epi pens for students w/documented needs (so if they have a current population of 20 kids w/documented needs the school has to stockpile 40 epi pens at any given time-AT THE SCHOOL'S COST).

it's worth it to take a look and see what if any laws are in place for the district one's child attends.

 

[barkley]

curious-how many pens does the school require you have on hand at any given time? I ask b/c my son has a couple of meds he MUST have at school and since he's in a program that takes him off campus (that won't permit anyone to administer his med except HIM) we've gotten into a situation wherein he technically needs 2 bottles of the meds-both of which must have current labels on them.

fortunately I don't pay much for a prescription BUT if it's a scrip that the doctor only prescribes as needed once a month then I'm out of pocket a horrendous amount to get a second bottle.

I finally had the school tell me what their 'line in the sand' policy on how many of these meds (within an individual bottle) ds was required to have on campus each day. when I found it was less than the number of one of his script bottles held I had the pharmacy do up a second bottle which I put half the supply into. the school notifies me when his supply is getting low so I retrieve the bottle and put some of my at home supply into it and return it to the school (I just keep all the normal refills on hand at home to provide to the school when needed).

if the pens come in multi packs of say 3 couldn't each location just get one (to be immediately replaced upon use) or at worst buy 2 boxes and provide each place with 2?

you may already be familiar with this but in case you are not-review The Network for Public Health Law website's section on Injury Prevention: Food Allergies. there are states that REQUIRE their schools acquire and stockpile epi pens for students w/documented need, there are states that medical provider write out scrips to the school who purchase (or have them donated by manufactures) epi pens for students w/documented needs (so if they have a current population of 20 kids w/documented needs the school has to stockpile 40 epi pens at any given time-AT THE SCHOOL'S COST).

it's worth it to take a look and see what if any laws are in place for the district one's child attends.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Have you filled out the form and gotten the savings card from EpiPen? I'm sure you have, but on the off chance you haven't.

https://www.activatethecard.com/epipen/

 

[JenB1104]

Have you filled out the form and gotten the savings card from EpiPen? I'm sure you have, but on the off chance you haven't.

https://www.activatethecard.com/epipen/

This has worked for us in the past but we have to meet a deductible first that is high.

 

[JenB1104]

My dd needs Epipens too for her severe peanut allergy. She is 16yo and actually had to use one for the first time this past May as she went into anaphylactic shock from accidental ingestion at school. Our medical insurance paid nothing towards the cost the refill the 2-pack and the furtherest date out they could give us was 7 mos! We paid $500 for pens that will expire in 7 mos and the school will require us to refill again. It's unbelievable to me that we are allowed to be ripped off this way. No advice, just lamenting with you. I have considered a trip to Canada but we are not anywhere close.

The short shelf life of these pens is definitely an issue.

 

[JenB1104]

Have you price shopped this? I recently saw a great thread on the budget board with medication tips.

Just a few places. May need to do more comparing - so far insurance company's pharmacy is 403.00 compared to Walmart or Walgreens which are both around 680.

 

[Calee]

Ask your allergy doctor if he/she has a coupon card. Ours did and they were for a free epi pen!

 

[JenB1104]

Ask your allergy doctor if he/she has a coupon card. Ours did and they were for a free epi pen!

Unfortunately that only takes 100 off when you have to meet a deductible first. Still over 1500 for 3 2-packs needed

 

[Kelly Anne]

Your right as of this year The price increased to 600 a box... And I imagine that's everywhere, same brand different state, country. The price will hike up if it hasn't.

 

[scard192]

My sister was very nervous when she went to pu her EPI pens for her DD. They need 2 (one for school, one for the Y after school program). She paid nothing at the Stop and Shop pharmacy here in MA. She has BCBC HMO.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I don't know why, but I have found that the price of prescriptions, including EpiPens, are astronomical at places like our grocery store pharmacy and CVS, but considerably lower at Costco. I was paying $180 every 3 months for a prescription at my grocery store pharmacy that was FREE at Costco. Nothing changed- exact same insurance, exact same medicine, didn't switch to a generic or anything. Same thing with the EpiPen. Several hundred dollars at the grocery store several years ago. With the $100 coupon, I got it for free at Costco. Haven't tried it recently, but just an idea that may save you. Might be the same at Sam's Club and I know they give out a lot of 2 to 3 month long memberships for free. May be worth it to get a short term membership there and see if the price changes at all with them.

 

[JediBonas]

Yup, we need three for my son (one for school, one for our house and one for his grandparents), if we haven't met our deductible for the year we pay $250/each (if I recall, it might have been more). It is INSANE. He also needs budesidone which is a daily inhaled med for asthma and that cost us $300 for a month supply last time.

On a related note, yesturday was the last day of daycare for my son before he starts kindergarten and the daycare center COULD NOT FIND his epi-pen. My husband was livid (he picked the kids up). I am angry as well, what would have happened in an emergency? They make them stay locked up in the office and then can't FIND it??? Waiting to call this morning

 

[Narnia_girl]

Yeah, the price and short shelf like stinks.
If you don't already, follow the Allergy & Asthma Network or visit their site. They are doing what they can to help with this issue. Also, I heard on the news this morning that Congress is going to tackle this.

 

[kymom99]

I got a much lower price on acne medication with a code from goodrx. However this last time even that price jumped. A tube is around $200. Inside it last a couple months. It's awful.

On the other hand he also started with an inhaler for exercise induced asthma. The doctor gave us a free one and the pharmacy also gave us a free one when he needed a refill.

 

[amcnj]

This has been in the news recently, how the prices have gone up dramatically in the past 8-10 years. Lawmakers are supposedly getting involved but who knows where that will go and how quickly. Is that standard, that insurance/prescription plans do not cover them? Maybe if it was covered by insurance then at least the insurers would be helping to try and pressure the manufacturers to keep the costs down.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I just watched a story on this on the news. What a horrible thing. I hope you all find some solutions.