A little disappointed

The pharmacy called back yesterday. Surprise, surprise none of my drugs are covered by insurance. I am now (and pretty much have been since IVF came onto our radar screen) one of the rare (??) Americans paying for health care out of pocket--the dreaded self payer--even though I have what is considered good health insurance coverage. This blog really isn't about me making a political statement, but I will go so far as to say, this sucks!

Now that I am apart of this new/old class of citizenry, the pharmacy was able to give me a quote on my drugs. Drum roll please. . .$2,311.98 for all the injectables. Not too bad considering that I was expecting closer to the 3k-3.5k range based on the estimate from the clinic. Since I am a self payer, Village offered to enroll me in DesignRX to help reduce the cost of the Lupron. The 14 day kit is normally $300ish but with DesignRX, my cost is $125. The Village is also enrolling me in the Ferring HEART Program to reduce the cost of the Bravelle. The HEART Program requires a $10 annual membership fee but saves $18 on every vial of Bravelle. I still have some Internet researching to do on these two programs, but so far they seem like a good way to go. Anybody have any experiance with them?

Also as a self payer I have options of how much and when I want the drugs sent to me. No pharmacy in the US is allowed to refund or exchange drugs, even if they are unused and unopened. So with the nightmare of cancelled cycles or other changes in plans, I didn't want to have hundreds of dollars worth of drugs on my hands that I would then have to push on the Internet or a seedy street corner in order to recoup my money. With hubby's input, I am ordering the drugs one at a time, as needed. The Lupron will be here on Friday by 9:00 pm.

I am a little disappointed to not have a photo of all the drugs and syringes in a neat little pile to post on this blog but some how I will live with the disappointment. Village Pharmacy says that they need at least 4 days lead time to get me what I need, so I am going to have to become aware and diligent with a new drug is supposed to become apart of my regiment. I have already jotted on my calendar that I need to call them back on 6/22 to order the Bravelle that I will need to start taking on 6/27. Geez, I hope that ordering them one at a time isn't a mistake.