Reply To: Starting IVIG Loading Dose

I’m on Medicare, and have Part D drug insurance. For my first month of IVIG (March of this year), my co-pay for the drug was almost $4,000. That put me into and out of the “donut hole” or coverage gap, and I went straight into catastrophic coverage. Now my co-pay for the drug is less than $1,000 a month for the rest of the year. (Next January I’ll have to pay the $4,000 again.) I have to pay for nursing care out of pocket — another $200 a month. Medicare doesn’t cover home infusions, and the infusion centers around here all use Gammagard, which my insurance won’t cover. I get GammunexC, the only infusion drug FDA approved for CIDP, but no infusion center will give it to me because they have contracts with the company that makes Gammagard. The nurse comes to my house on any schedule my doctor prescribes. My total out of pocket costs for one year for the med and nursing together will be about $23,000. I’ve heard that infusion manufacturers give price breaks to people who need help and apply for it, but I’m afraid I don’t have any info about that. Perhaps someone else does.