A few days have passed now since my last rant about the overly-priced-and-probably-gouging-cost of my last Tysabri infusion...but I have neither forgotten NOR stopped trying to pursue the matter with Club Med, where my insurance was most recently billed $12,785.70 dollars for one, measly infusion! No, I have NOT stopped my quest to get to the bottom of this.I have YET to find someone at Club Med willing to talk to me about the matter, however. I have made at least one phone call or email a day regarding a request to MEET IN PERSON with a representative to go over the last Tysabri bill and, wouldn't you know it? I JUST KEEP GETTING BOUNCED AROUND FROM PHONE TREE/EMAIL/DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT! I've grown impatient and disgusted with the entire matter.
More importantly, I cannot find ANYONE who can or will tell me what the projected cost of my NEXT TYSABRI INFUSION will be on Friday. WTF?!? This is pathetic...and perhaps I'VE become (a)pathetic, too.
In my most recent rant about the cost of my Tysabri infusions (click the link in the first sentence of this post to read the ramblings of a mad woman), I totalled what would be the "projected" yearly cost of receiving the infusion 13 times a year at the most RECENT cost my insurance was billed...almost $200,000.00.
Frankly, I have come to the conclusion I am simply not WORTH this cost to the tax payers of my county (who PAY my insurance costs because I am a government employee) and I cannot morally JUSTIFY continuing this medication...and kick me if you must but, I'm not so sure ANY OF US are worth the outrageous cost of RECEIVING the medication. It is NOT the TYSABRI that is outrageously priced, so I can't even blame a drug company for this one...no, it's the HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM that is at fault here.
Yes, you read this here on CHEESE. It is not the pharmaceutical company to blame. There, I said it again. It is not the fault of the FDA. Let me add that, too. Nope...it is the fault of the "CLUB MEDS" across America that are driving the cost of this medication out of the realm of feasible and justifiable cost of delivery.
Am I WORTH $197,414.10 a year? Nope, probably not...
I can't find the quote but many years ago when Bryant Gumble had renewed his NBC contract for a boatload of money someone asked him if he was really worth that much. He basically said that if you were looking at his value to the world that yes, he was overpaid - but that if you looked at his value to the network he was paid a reasonable amount.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you are worth 197K a year to the state of Washington but to the blogging world you are a bargain! (Well, you know, as long as the taxpayers are paying it!)
PennyAnn
I'm sorry you are going through all this. To me its incredible how stupid our health care facilities are getting. Its strage how a profession that is supposed to be based on helping people, have in many cases become a center of greed.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel like the reason they can't answer a simple questions is because the costs are all made up in the end anyway. They nickel and dime for whatever they can get out of you. I know thats harsh, but I really feel its not that far from the truth in a lot of cases.
Take heart in that its not really a case that you aren't worth that amount, but rather that the facility (Club Med as you put it) is not worth being paid that amount. Not much consolation I know.
Oh come on Brain Splat ... You KNOW you are worth your weight in GOLD!!! So yeah, you are worth about a billion dollars!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good story a journalist needs to get a bite on!
I understand your feelings about this completely. I am going to start Ty soon and trying to get price quotes is like asking someone to redo the Mona Lisa.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the Ty is helping you? I am desperate for a change in my QOL and after two strikes with Copaxone and Rebif, I am hoping that Ty will be the difference for me.
I also hope I can afford it!
I cannot believe all the shit you are having to go through with all of this. You are gonna be like superwoman when you get through this. What is the next step with all this?
ReplyDeleteYou're worth it but you are also right: who is Club Med to charge that kind of money?
ReplyDeleteHey, I pay my taxes and SOMEBODY should benefit from it, especially since I don't.
ReplyDeleteHave you had any response to the question of other folks' billed costs? I would really like to know more about this.
Actually, I think a really strong article could be in the making here. I may have to start a grassroots campaign to get some of this information together.
Maybe 'Club Med' would like to answer a request for comment from a 'journalist' - what do you think? I'd be happy to dig into this.
Heyyy I'm back - Funky Mango's Musings has had to move, to http://www.margomilne.com/b2evolution/blogs/index.php
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're going through such hassles - hope it all sorts out soon xx