I have just been diagnosed with Colitis. They prescribed Budesonide...$400 a month!

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

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Mid-Missouri
I found this out yesterday after the biopsy from my colonoscopy came in. It is microscopic not ulcerative colitis. They treat ulcerative colitis with Prednazone, which is fairly cheap. But they treat the Microscopic colitis with this REAL expensive drug. Is there any options to get this price reduced? Or other treatments?
 

There seems to be a rat's nest of assistance schemes out there. I keep seeing "if you need help" text on various EOB mailings and other places but I have no idea who qualifies for what. Even things like GoodRx don't help me, pharmacies can't apply that to co-pays and such.
 

Paco Dennis said:
I found this out yesterday after the biopsy from my colonoscopy came in. It is microscopic not ulcerative colitis. They treat ulcerative colitis with Prednazone, which is fairly cheap. But they treat the Microscopic colitis with this REAL expensive drug. Is there any options to get this price reduced? Or other treatments?
Click to expand...
https://www.goodrx.com/budesonide

were you aware of Goodrx
 
Have you thought about getting a second opinion regarding treatment. I'm pretty sure Medicare covers a second opinion. Of course you should follow your doctor's advice but he IS getting paid by big pharma companies for prescribing their meds. So it's always good to educate yourself.

My go-to respected online site is the The Mayo Clinic. Scroll down to "Treatments" at the bottom to find options you can discuss with your doctor... Microscopic colitis - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic
 
I was also diagnosed with this years ago after many years of suffering. The doc put me on Asacol. I took 2 tablets 3 times a day. It worked very well for me and was not expensive. I believe it is a generic of something. I was on it for a few years.

Finally I had a colonoscopy that said I was all clear. I stopped the medication and have not had a reoccurrence since.

My diagnosis was lymphocytic colitis.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I found this out yesterday after the biopsy from my colonoscopy came in. It is microscopic not ulcerative colitis. They treat ulcerative colitis with Prednazone, which is fairly cheap. But they treat the Microscopic colitis with this REAL expensive drug. Is there any options to get this price reduced? Or other treatments?
Click to expand...
I was curious about Budesonide so I checked my wife's Goodrx gold account.

90 day supply of Budesonide 3mg

at Walgreens $35.69
Walmart $68.84
Von's Pharmacy $69.72
Cosco $52.99

She needs a particular prescription that is covered by her Medicare Advantage plan but thru that plan the cost for her 100 day supply is about $38.00 more than thru Goodrx for the same quantity. So even for the $9.90 a month cost to have Goodrx gold we are a few dollars ahead in cost savings.

As you can see where to buy varies. Of course we chose the pharmacy with the least cost.
To make life really easy this is what we have set up.

1. The pharmacy has her Gold Card number on file
2. When refill is due the pharmacy texts us to pick it up
3. If a refill prescription is needed the pharmacy contacts her doctor for her & it's a done deal with no need to do anything.

So for about 6 years now getting her prescription at lower cost with no stress or problems of any kind my advice would be to check out if something like this would work for you.
 
I would have suggested checking into goodrx, as well, Dennis.

I myself have used it once, and I will/would try it again, whenever a med is not covered by, or has too expensive a copay on, my drug insurance plan.

I did not take the monthly subscription offered at goodrx, but I could simply print out a coupon, to give at the pharmacy.
(Or one can show it on your phone at the pharmacy, if you have that type of phone)

To my surprise, the price that the coupon gave was not accurate. Walgreens definitely accepts the coupon, and the med I got, was still significantly cheaper than getting it any other way, so I was glad, evn though the price I paid was not as low as goodrx had quoted.

I wonder; Has that ever happened to you, with what your wife has, @Knight ?
 
As was said in above posts, you cannot use both,
GoodRx and a drug insurance, for the same individual script,
but you could opt to use the GoodRx instead, for any one script,
if that price is lower than your co-pay would be, for that one med.

To be clear, You can't apply the goodrx discount to a copay.
Use one or the other, is how it works.
 
Kaila said:
I would have suggested checking into goodrx, as well, Dennis.

I myself have used it once, and I will/would try it again, whenever a med is not covered by, or has too expensive a copay on, my drug insurance plan.

I did not take the monthly subscription offered at goodrx, but I could simply print out a coupon, to give at the pharmacy.
(Or one can show it on your phone at the pharmacy, if you have that type of phone)

To my surprise, the price that the coupon gave was not accurate. Walgreens definitely accepts the coupon, and the med I got, was still significantly cheaper than getting it any other way, so I was glad, evn though the price I paid was not as low as goodrx had quoted.

I wonder; Has that ever happened to you, with what your wife has, @Knight ?
Click to expand...
No we've never experienced any problems with pricing.

And Kaila's post was a great addition to the info.
 
Weird stuff. I researched the Goodrx
The best was about $70. It turns out that the Clinic prescribed a new version of this drug. A 9mg Time release tablet. $400 month. My pharmacist has this med 3mg capsules $68 month!!!!!!! It is probably a new one because the pharmacy doesn't have it. :eek:
 
Paco Dennis said:
Weird stuff. I researched the Goodrx
The best was about $70. It turns out that the Clinic prescribed a new version of this drug. A 9mg Time release tablet. $400 month. My pharmacist has this med 3mg capsules $68 month!!!!!!! It is probably a new one because the pharmacy doesn't have it. :eek:
Click to expand...
It sounds like your Dr might be able to prescribe the same med, in a different form , or an equivalent one , if you let their office know
that the specific one , or the way the Dr wrote it is not covered, or is not affordable, as written,
and that the equivalent (even the same exact drug or the same active ingredient) would be one you could actually get.

Thanks for your reply and the feedback, @Knight
If I use goodRx again soon, I might give that low monthly cost subscription a try.
 
After chatting with my father I believe my mom went through Humana for help because Medicare would not cover her RA medicine. It was $3000 a month. They had her getting a 90 day supply so that was $9000 a pop.
 

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