Medicare Part D Insurance

Happy New Year!! Hope you are all pain free today. I am not new to this site, however haven't posted in a long, long time. I have been on Social Security disability for these migraines for 13 years and since my husband retired I have now have my meds covered by Medicare Part D. I chose Medco for their generosity in allowing 12 boxes of Imitrex per month. As of Jan. 1, 2010 Medco has dropped all three of my meds from their formulary. Imitrex tablets, Imitrex injectable form, and Topamax. I am now in the process of filing for an exception. Should I be granted that exception, I will pay 75% of the retail cost of these drugs. The generics do not work for me otherwise this would not be an issue. Yes, I should've found another insurance company during the open enrollment period, but a family health emergency (out of state) got in my way, and well....here I am.

Is there anybody who is in on Social Security disability, Medicare Part D, who could recommend a decent insurance company?? I could go into the nightmare story where they tried to release the wrong drug to me out of their pharmacy. Good thing I make copies of my scripts. They tried to release the auto-injector kit rather than the refill cartridges the script called for. How you mistake an auto-injector kit for 12 refill cartridges is beyond me and then say to me that they "assumed" I needed it. A letter is most certainly going to the executives you can count on that. I caught their error through my account online. It took almost three weeks to get it straightened out and I finally got the drugs through a local pharmacy!! So you can see my frustration and my confidence has been shaken. I dread talking to them. Talk about a migraine in the making!! I am now reduced to counting out my needles and my tablets based on how bad my migraine is. A position I thoroughly resent being placed in because our insurance companies govern what meds we can obtain.

Sorry for the rant, but I surely am not alone in this. Can anybody help?? I live in northeast Pa., but ran into problems when I lived in the NY metro area, too.

Take care, and if you live in the NE, be warm!!

Are you asking for a recommendation of a medicare advantage plan? I selected Aetna. The monthly payment is equivalent to the medicare deduction, it's an HMO plan, and includes a prescription drug Part D plan.

I had been with Healthnet for 3 or 4 years or so, but have been in dispute with them for nonpayment of claims, so as of Jan 1 I am with Aetna.

I'm very interested in the topic of insurance, but I have a request.

Can you break up your posts into smaller, easier to read paragraphs? I just can't follow what you're trying to say when the blocks of text are that large.

Thanks!

I'm on topamax now, and I'm wondering how you came about knowing generics don't work.
I think if I told my neuro topamax wasn't working (being on the generic myself) he would just
take me off of it. Topamax is helping me as far as severity of migraines go, but I'm still
getting them pretty frequently. I've been on it for about 2 months now, 100mgs a day.

I don't love it, but i'm noticing the side effects are going away. I was thinking about
talking to my doctor about upping the dosage, but if I can instead switch to non-generic
I would much rather. I hate the thought of taking more drugs.

Wish you well on your insurance issues. I posted a topic, it may be a little buried by now
but it is a website that connects you to discount or free medication from the makers of imitrex
if you have no insurance. If you lapse over, you may want to take a visit just so you
have some meds.

As for me, we get our insurance through my husbands company.
I have no idea what they pay into it but we pay 330 a month for family,
its blue cross blue shield and I've had it all my life. I paid into it when I was
employed and my parents had it when I was under 19.

I love it, and have never had a problem. I just recently started seeing
doctors for migraines and triptans dont work, but I had 3 narcotic scripts
filled in a little over a month and all were taken care of. I see whatever
doc I want and get whatever test. Even my lamaze class was paid for

Hi. Sorry for the rambling rant. What I am really looking for is a reliable Medicare Part D prescription insurer. Any recommendations? Clearly Medco has lost my vote of confidence, but for the moment I'm stuck with them.

As to the generics....Medco substituted the generic topiramate for the Topamax brand my neuro prescribed. I tried it. It didn't work for me. Topamax has been a great "controller" drug for me in that it has reduced my migraines by half. I'm down to 5 to 6 per month from 12.

I have had migraines for 35+ years and have tried every med from A to Z. Topamax and Imitrex are the only meds that seem to do anything for me.

Again, sorry for the rant.....

No problem. I see what you're asking now. I wasn't sure if it was about Medicaid, which I'm too young to qualify for, or about self-funded medical insurance plans, which I'm very interested in as I need to find one soon.

On the topic of generics, I have noticed that the generic Imitrex doesn't work as well as the brand, but it does work reasonably well, so I go ahead and use it. Mainly because both generic and brand are expensive, and I can't afford cash prices for brand.

However, that link you posted, Gia, is very helpful, and if I can get brand Imitrex through that GSK program for free, then I would be set. I hope they approve me!

The topomax I have is brand, I haven't tried generic yet, but I will be trying it once I run out brand. I wonder how it'll work.

BTW, after almost 20 years, topomax and imitrex are the only drugs that work consistently for me, too.

I also have part D, and did my homework when it came to finding a company that covered my primary prescrips. So I thought. The problem is, as soon as you start charging them for the expensive meds - especially the triptans (like Imitrex) - they change the rules, and reduce, then even stop coverage of those meds. It is a major battle with all of them, at least as far as I know.

If anyone knows of a good company that doesn't do this, please share! I too would like to know. For now, I get some of my meds from out of the country, because it is the least expensive option for me (still not cheap by any means!).

renee

I am on Medicare but my retirement prescription plan serves me instead of paying for Part D.

I used Medco on the west coast for mail order medications. They have always done extremely well by me ... right prescription, on time. I can also use any drug store locally ... I am very fortunate in my insurance plans.

Sorry to hear Medco treats you badly.

Hi all!

My husband has had migraines since childhood; he is 71 now. He has had great luck with the Aetna plan. The only thing he is restricted on is Imitrex Statdose. He can get 6 per month. He uses Maxalt and gets 30 per month. Very low copays.

He has had some major medical challenges and 4 hospitalizations over the last couple years and I believe we had to pay $200 out of pocket at the most.

January 15th is the deadline for plan changes! Check out Aetna.

Medicare Part A covered Medicare patients providing some preventive services to issues like:
# Cardiovascular screenings
# Diabetes screening
# Flu shots
# Glaucoma tests.