Bill Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 For those of you already taking Iressa, did you have any problems getting your medical insurance to cover the cost of the drug ? For instance, did your insurance company require that certain chemo drugs be tried ( and fail ) first before coverage would be approved ? BTW, did your med onc require that certain chemo drugs be tried first before trying Iressa ? Thanks much for any input on this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Bill,I have never been on Iressa.Lots of others have tho and I'm pretty sure reading some of them had insurance issues as well.I'm sure they will contact you.(the wekends are a little slower response time than weekdays are).It seems to help a lot of people,hope you are able to acquire it & hope it helps your wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patut Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Bill, my hubbie is on Iressa. He was put on two other chemos first, we only did what the onc suggested. After the first chemos failed she asked if he wanted to try Iressa. There was no issue with our insurance co, all went smoothly in that department. Makes one wonder, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Same situation for my husband as Patut. He received two different rounds of two different chemo combinations at the suggestion of his onc and had shrinkage. Later, he had new progression and the onc suggested Iressa and we had no problems with insurance. So far, the Iressa is working well. Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Bill-- Geoff's mom had weekly taxol/carboplatin from March-September. When that ceased because of her dx. with meningial carcinoma and she was transfered to a hospital/hospice, Geoff FIRMLY requested that she be put on Iressa (with copies of journal articles in hand). I never thought the oncs. would agree--but they did. Insurance did not seem to be a problem, either (although bills are still being submitted, as I type--a full time job, that). There are a lot of people on the board who had to fight to get Iressa--but they did get it AND get it paid for. So--do a "search" here on the board for their stories--and take heart. Melinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 I had no insurance problems at all. I believe that Iressa is considered a third line of attack drug..as explained to me by my Onc. Although It appears that that may vary from onc/patient, I do not believe it is ever considered a first line chemo drug except for possibly stage I or II when used as a maintennce drug. jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy P Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 My Mom is taking Iressa and has never had "traditional" chemo or radiation - she has only had surgery - so I guess you could say that this is her first line treatment. Doc never even blinked when we asked for her to be treated with that vs chemo. My parents have medicare as their primary and then a secondary insurance - the first 2 months - medicare didn't pay anything and they had to pay a 10% co-pay (roughly $200 per month) but when they went to get it refilled the 3rd time - they didn't have to pay anything out of pocket and M&D did not have any trouble. Hope this helps! Much Love, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marion Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 I WAS ON CARBOPLATIN/GEMZAR FROM NOV. 2003 OFF AND ON UNTIL JULY 2004. THEN THE DOCTOR PUT ME ON IRESSA. I EVEN FORGOT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE INSURANCE COMPANY ABOUT THIS AND DIDN' REALIZE THAT I SHOULD HAVE UNTIL I WAS READING UP ON IT ON THE COMPUTER. HAD NO TROUBLE WITH INSURANCE COMPANY AND AM ON MY SECOND PRESCRIPTION. HE DID CUT THE DOSAGE IN HALF THIS TIME. PLACES ON SPINE AND HIP WERE GONE AND SLOWER ACTIVITY ON LUNG AND LYMPH NODE IN JULY 2004 AND THEN THAT WAS WHEN HE PUT ME ON IRESSA. MARION Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 I was given Iressa as first line chemo as part of a clinical trial at first. Once it was FDA approved I had already been on it for quite a while and my insurance gave me no problem. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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