Finally got approval for Exjade!
Hello Listmates,
This is my first post to this new forum. I have an almost 15 year old son with AA who was diagnosed nearly 8 years ago. He has been transfusion dependent only since January of this year (2006). As a result, his ferritin level is hovering around 1500. When his hematologist prescribed the new oral iron chelator, Exjade, we were very discouraged to find out that our COPAY with our private insurance would be $2,114.95 per month. We looked into various patient assistance programs to no avail. Our income did not qualify us for any of these programs. I cannot imagine what income level a person would be at that could afford $2,114.95 per month for one drug on top of all our other medical expenses associated with AA After several weeks of phone calls, we finally got our own caseworker at Blue Cross. She facilitated our hemo speaking with their medical director, letting them know about the medical necessity and explaining how the administration of desferal was not a good alternative for him, due to the fact that he also has low platelets.
I am happy to report that we got approval for Grant to receive Exjade for one year just paying our usual drug copay of $30.
So, moral of the story... don't give up! Keep pushing and be sure your doctor takes time to educate your insurance company about this new drug.
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