Does anything go right

[Fight11]

Now the clinical trial is saying they don’t take our ins. For labs the consult. Bone scans. I wish we knew this we had our hopes so high only for another let down. The consult alone is quite a bit,

[Javelin18]

That doesn’t sound right to me. All doctor visits are covered by my insurance. That includes the consultation. I have PPO plan, and not HMO.

I did have to pay $1300 out of pocket for treatment related costs, but I think that’s only because they hadn’t received prior approval when I got an earlier appointment.

[NotAlwaysSunshine]

Is the clinical trial offered in the State that you live in? I know where you live..☺️ There are a lot of insurance plans offered in the country and you have to stay instate for many of them.

[Fight11 in reply to NotAlwaysSunshine]

I live in Mass the trial is in New York

[NotAlwaysSunshine]

I'm sorry that it's not working out. Hopefully his MO can help with pain relief until the next treatment starts.

[Faith1111]

Hi, I know that when my brother did PT 112 in Connecticut it was out of state because we are in Massachusetts. Some of the things that weren’t covered we’re done at Dana-Farber. His doctor arranged for Dana-Farber to work together with Smilow.

[Javelin18 in reply to Faith1111]

PT 112 looks promising. Did it help your brother?

[Faith1111 in reply to Javelin18]

Initially, his PSA dropped really quickly. The biggest and quickest drop to zero that the Dr had seen. We were so excited. But then it slowly started rising until it was decided it wasn’t working. So unusual. We were so hopeful.

[Faith1111 in reply to Javelin18]

Oh my goodness!! I am so sorry. The trial was ARV 110 not PT 112. Too many numbers running through my head!!! His Dr at Dana had discussed PT112 with him but decided to do Keytruda.

[Concerned-wife]

I am sad for you and your husband.

For reference, here is a link explaining the overall rules about trials and insurance cancer.gov/about-cancer/tre...

I am not an expert but it appears trials directly run by NCI might be no cost ( and have travel cost help) and it might be worthwhile to check if they have any relevant ones. cancer.gov/about-cancer/tre...

[Avanat]

Fight11, It looks like you must have insurance that doesn’t allow out of network doctors/hospitals. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be charged anything. My husband was in a Phase 2 clinical trial run out of Dana Farber but he got the treatment from Moffitt cancer center in Tampa where we live. We never paid for anything. Maybe you should check with your insurance to make sure about the out of network policy. Good luck to you and your husband. I hope whatever his next treatment is, will help keep his cancer at bay.