Budget Buster - DS Asthma

[JamesMom]

Looks like we will have no problem meeting our High Deductible Plan for this year.
Feb $1500 ambulance bill + $800 ER bill
Today - $200 Dr. Visit + $450 in equipment & medications

DS7 has had episodic asthma attacks since he was 3 - generally 1 dr or ER visit a year and handful of nublizer controlled episodes a year.
Today's attack is #3 in last 2 months. In Feb they called an ambulance from school because his blood ox was 87% (normal is 96 or better!)

The Pedi finally decided to up his regime, but good grief!

One medicine, Advair, is $200 for 1 month supply! I got billed $20 today for an intro rate - like a street drug dealer, the first one is a freebie till you get hooked. Singular is $122 a month and Allegra is a reasonable $63.

At least now that we hit the deductible we'll pay only 20% co-pay for the rest of the year. The doctor wants him on the medications about 4-6 months out of the year so looking at $400 a month or up to $2K a year
At least it's cheaper than an ambulance ride...

 

[minnie1928]

Go to Advair's site and register, I usually get several checks/coupons per year to use toward the cost of refills.

Also, look into a drug called Accolate. I was on that for years...from what I understand it's very similar to Singulair except that you take it twice/day. The prices may be better on that drug (I think it's a slightly older drug). I tried Singulair and didn't like it, so I went back to Accolate. Then I started allergy shots and after 5 years I was desensitized enough to stop taking it. Now I just use Advair during my rough months.

 

[weluvdizne]

First of all, I hope he is feeling better soon and that things settle down for your family.

Second, here's something to look into. Check with your hospital, and see if they offer financial assistance. Our hospital offers a % discount AFTER your insurance pays their portion. It is on a sliding scale that takes into account your income and your family size. It is worth a try, but look into it BEFORE you make any payments. I have heard that some physician's offices will honor that type of program as well, if you tell them that the hospital approved you for it.
Also check with the drug companies to see if they can offer you any help as well covering the prescriptions. I have heard them say on their commercials that if you cannot afford your medication, they may be able to help. Can't loose anything.
Lastly, about the Ambulance. Some towns that operate the ambulance out of the fire department will send you a bill, that you could/should forward on to your insurance company. However, many municipalities will waive the charge if your insurance company will not cover it at all, or just waive your portion after the insurance pays their part.
I know, you have a lot of bills coming in now, and in the future as this will probably be ongoing. However, you can save yourself a lot of money with a couple phone calls. Worth the time, in my opinion.

I hope that you are able to find some relief from some of these suggestions. Most importantly, I hope your son is doing well. If you have any questions, let me know. Good luck!

 

[muscarello4]

We went from our DS waking up gasping nearly every night to being symptom free for over 1 year. We are starting to wean him down.

He was on Advair, Singulair, and Nasonex. It worked like a charm. He is now on Nasonex, Aricept, and Flonex. We keep stepping down on dosage strength.

Expensive, but lifesaving. I hope it works as well for you as it did for us.

 

[Leajess99]

So Sorry for the outrageous costs OP. My youngest DD has asthma as well (caused by RSV when she was a baby) and it is ridiculous the cost of some of the meds. This year we ended up with pneumonia on top of everything else so we also got a second nebulizer in case one needs to be left at school or with her grandma. Thankfully the insurance paid for those. My youngest is on Advair, Ventolin, and off brand zyrtec. She can't take the singulair due to the behavior side effects (made her a very mean child). We have also ended up with allergy shots. Thankfully we have it pretty well controlled but there are still times that it gets bad. My biggest worry right now is the mold we are going to start having due to all of the rain we had last weekend.

 

[love2disney]

Just a heads up. SIngulair usually has coupons for 20$ off in People magazine. I definitely know this issue with the Sandra Bullock divorce has it. Try to get thos for everytime you fill the prescription. Advair also sends coupons. These help the cost a little

 

[apnep]

DS7 has had episodic asthma attacks since he was 3 - generally 1 dr or ER visit a year and handful of nublizer controlled episodes a year.
Today's attack is #3 in last 2 months. In Feb they called an ambulance from school because his blood ox was 87% (normal is 96 or better!)

The Pedi finally decided to up his regime, but good grief!

One medicine, Advair, is $200 for 1 month supply! I got billed $20 today for an intro rate - like a street drug dealer, the first one is a freebie till you get hooked. Singular is $122 a month and Allegra is a reasonable $63.

I feel your pain. I have been dealing with my DS12's asthma since kinder. I suggest if you have not already done it, that you get yours in to see a pulminologist and an ENT. Pulminologist to get the asthma under control and the ENT to make sure his airways are not blocked by tonsels and adnoids.

Also, you should really try to mail order your drugs through your insurance if possible. It is really much cheaper that way.

Also, tell your doc you can't afford the Advair and to pony up some samples for you. Samples come in 30 inhaled puffs.

Good luck.

Ang

 

[Cindyrellablue]

I was diagnosed with asthma at 3 and am now on Advair. My asthma has always been pretty severe, and unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky people who grew out of it.

I love Advair. Since being on a regiment of that and ProAir (my rescue inhaler), I've had very little trouble at all with any type of attack. I've had my little ProAir in my purse for months and it's not even close to being empty!

Doctors are given samples of everything, definitely ask, they don't always offer. Also, along with going to a pulmonary Dr., get into an allergy and immunology Dr. as well.

I've found that I'm dairy sensitive, not in digestion...but in the large amount of mucus it creates in my lungs. White flour as well...so I've switched to Spelt breads and Millet.

I hope your son does well with his treatment and I hope for you both that he is one of the lucky ones who gets to grow out of it!

 

[BabyFu18]

I've been on medications for asthma for 16 years and the best thing I can tell you is to ask for samples, I didn't start doing this until recently but it's helped a lot. One of my medications is $400 for a month supply and I cannot afford that, seeing as I'm on ten different asthma products that are all costly, I've been on the medication almost a year and have yet to buy it my doctor just keeps giving me all the sample boxes she has (and her sample boxes are full size/1 month packages).

Samples don't work for all medications, because there are some my doctor never has samples of and I have to buy them out of pocket. However, for more expensive medications I always ask for samples or if there is a cheaper medication that could be used instead of an expensive one.

Best of luck!

 

[disfan07]

My asthma is how we reached out OOP expenses this year. we have a $250 deductable and $8,000 OOP. We go July-July and we reached it in september

2 $50,000 hospital bills plus medications (I'm on xoponex, symbicort, singulair plus nebs all year)

We average about three 5-7 day hospitalizations per year for my asthma.

Do none of you do mail in prescriptions? We do express scripts and get 3 month prescriptions (6 rescue inhalers and 3 symbicort inhalers) for $20 ($10 for each)

 

[minnie1928]

Do none of you do mail in prescriptions? We do express scripts and get 3 month prescriptions (6 rescue inhalers and 3 symbicort inhalers) for $20 ($10 for each)

I do mail in prescriptions when I need them. Our plan has a limit on how many times you can get "maintenance" drugs at the pharmacy. But, even with mail order my Advair runs over $100 (but it is for 3 months). However, my mail in program won't allow me to use the Advair coupons that I receive. Thankfully I was overly stocked on my rescue inhalers that I haven't needed to buy those for quite some time.

 

[NJMomma]

I feel your pain. I have been dealing with my DS12's asthma since kinder. I suggest if you have not already done it, that you get yours in to see a pulminologist and an ENT. Pulminologist to get the asthma under control and the ENT to make sure his airways are not blocked by tonsels and adnoids.

Also, you should really try to mail order your drugs through your insurance if possible. It is really much cheaper that way.

Also, tell your doc you can't afford the Advair and to pony up some samples for you. Samples come in 30 inhaled puffs.

Good luck.

Ang

I totally agree with this. My DD has much improved since we started seeing the asthma doctor regularly. She takes meds year round now, symptomatic or not. I has really evened out her asthma - she hasn't had (knock wood!) any serious issues in years. She cannot take singulair either due to behavioral issues (sleepwalking of all things). She's on an inhaler (with QVar) now everyday. I was resistant to giving her medication when she wasn't sick at first, but it really helps.

Good luck, I hope your son is feeling better!

 

[NJ2Boardwalk]

I have had Asthma since I was 7, now 47. I go to a Allergist and a Pulmonary Doctor. I also had to do the ER thing for a tuneup etc. I am now on a drug called Xolair. I am not sure it is the right fit for a child but nevers hurts to ask. It is a shot (very expensive) that is given every two weeks (somewhat of a pain in the neck). The drug works great and the doctor can rally against the Health provider to save them money by cutting out hospital vists. A test must been done to see if your
IGE level (google it for further explantion) is high enough.

Good luck and have a Disney Day

 

[cm8]

Looks like we will have no problem meeting our High Deductible Plan for this year.
Feb $1500 ambulance bill + $800 ER bill
Today - $200 Dr. Visit + $450 in equipment & medications

DS7 has had episodic asthma attacks since he was 3 - generally 1 dr or ER visit a year and handful of nublizer controlled episodes a year.
Today's attack is #3 in last 2 months. In Feb they called an ambulance from school because his blood ox was 87% (normal is 96 or better!)

The Pedi finally decided to up his regime, but good grief!

One medicine, Advair, is $200 for 1 month supply! I got billed $20 today for an intro rate - like a street drug dealer, the first one is a freebie till you get hooked. Singular is $122 a month and Allegra is a reasonable $63.

At least now that we hit the deductible we'll pay only 20% co-pay for the rest of the year. The doctor wants him on the medications about 4-6 months out of the year so looking at $400 a month or up to $2K a year
At least it's cheaper than an ambulance ride...

, sending you a pm

 

[apnep]

Doctors are given samples of everything, definitely ask, they don't always offer. Also, along with going to a pulmonary Dr., get into an allergy and immunology Dr. as well.

Yes definitely ask. If you don't talk to them about the cost they will give you the most expensive thing and won't offer the samples.

Also, do try to find a pulminologist/immunologist as well. One stop shopping if you will. My DS had pnuemonia at age 5 and I was SO mad at the pediatrician for not catching this when I took him into the office THREE WEEKS in a ROW! They insisted it was a cold. I was so mad. Luckily, my sister, was a pharma rep and had me call a friend who sold Advair. She is the one who told me to get to a pulminologist and allergist. Let me tell you, that is the LAST time I trusted any doctor.

You have to be the advocate for your child. You have to learn what his triggers are for his asthma. And also, don't just take the ashtma doctor for his word either. It wasn't until I took DS12 to the ortho that I learned his airways were completely blocked by his tonsils and adnoids! I had them removed this past Xmas and for the first time in his LIFE he no longer breathes through his mouth and is getting restful sleep and dreaming!

Now, we still have to deal with the fact that he is allergic to every pollen out there, and weeds, and he is half way through his shot program, but we know how to manage the asthma and allergies now and after Spring, he is usually fine without any meds.

Good luck, OP.

Ang

 

[JamesMom]

OP, here.

Thanks for all the responses. I was overwhelmed with the meds and prices.

We are only now updating his regime since the nebulizer only isn't working this year as it had in the past so I'll trust the doctor for a while. If he continues to have issues on this regime, we'll look into specialists and such. I'm willing to give this a try for now.

The doctor was great about giving me samples - After the hospital visit she gave me 6 wk supply of singulair in samples (still have a couple - wasn't using everyday, but am now). She also gave me a 60 dose sample of the Advair.

The Advair the pharmacy gave me was for 120 doses - a 2 months supply (2 doses per day) so that halved the cost right there. The script said 30 day supply so I thought it was just for a month until I re-read the label instructions.

The doctor also gave me a 90 script of everything to submit to insurance for mail order with refills. Hopefully that will cut the cost some more.

The Pharm also gave me the $20 off the singular already so I could keep the $20 off coupon the dr gave me for the next 2 scripts to send into the mail order.

We leave for Disney on sunday and hope he is recovered enough to enjoy it. I posted on the disabilities board for some ideas to keep him comfortable.

Whew. Between discipline issues and now medical issues, my DS7 is hard work. I also have a special needs (sensory) DS4 who usually monopolizes my anxiety levels. Parenting and keeping kids healthy is a full-time job! Thank goodness I am a stay-at-home mom.

Thanks for all responses, again. I don't feel as alone...

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

ask your dr for samples!!!!! The drug reps will love to supply you for free.

And the meds are WELL worth it. We went from having an asthma attack almost daily to rarely.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

make note of where the first aid clinic is in each of the parks at Disney. That way, if you start having trouble, they could get someone to help you faster that you could get someone (if you need medical intervention.) Good luck! Have a great trip!

 

[Evi]

I have asthma and know its induced by different triggers in different people. Along with upping your sons medicine regiment, make sure your avoiding all this triggers. I would have him allergy tested if you haven't. I know I have a huge dust mite allergy enough so that I'm starting allergy shots. Though I can control dust mites in my own environment I can't control them in the rest of the world. If you can remove his allergy triggers you can help control his asthma. I'd also look into food allergies and seasonal allergies for triggers. I hope he starts to feel better and you have a great vacation.

 

[mjkacmom]

My twins deal with this, and we keep a supply of orapred on hand at all times. It's saved many visits to the ER. Luckily, their asthma is viral induced, not allergy, so the only daily medication they get is generic zertec, and an inhaler. Knock on wood, we just have to be careful when they get colds - much easier to deal with than with allergies, which are daily.