Funding Program for Prostate Cancer

[Bradley73]

What assistance funding do the people using Erleada use? I was using one called (The Assistance Fund) for about 6 months, but received a mail yesterday that their funding ran out of money and could no longer help with the cost of my prostate cancer drug Erleada. The cost of Erleada is over $13,000 a month. United Health Care pays a very large portion of this amount, but I am left with $3,200 for the first month of 2022 then I go into catastrophic drug program and that is $650>$780 a month. I am on social Security I need another funding program ASAP.

[Hidden]

Utility like pg&e? Or maybe Detroit Water and Sewage? I'm not saying these drugs can't be made cheaper but this country still produces the most innovation in the area of pharmaceuticals. You're a proponent of Car-t...what's that cost? 400+k

[Magnus1964]

You might try the Patient Access Network. Or buy you drugs from India, India Mart.

[Hidden]

What state do you reside in? Some states offer prescription drug assistance. Of course there are income eligibility rules.

Good luck.

[Hidden]

As I stated, these drugs can be cheaper but I don't believe UCLA conducted the clinical trials to get Xtandi FDA approved. That was performed by Astellas and Pfizer.

I saw a number somewhere that it costs 1.3 billion to get xtandi fda approved

CAR-T infusions can run 300-400k per infusion...nearly 1 million if you require 3 infusions.

The easy drugs have been developed...the harder more difficult drugs are what's being developed now...that costs $$$$$. Not going to happen in a utility based model.

[CAMPSOUPS]

Yes what state do you live in. Others here who live in your state might have solutions they have discovered thru state help.

Also the state authorized medicare/Medicaid insurance consultants who do not make money from recommending one solution from another can be of help. They are paid the same no matter what recommendations they give. They look at what your best alternatives are.

Normally you will need to be in a HMO situation where you are treated thru one hospital group.

One question. Do you get your injections at the hospital or at a outpatient clinic ?

At the hospital is cheaper.

And yes the above is dependent on your level of income.

[Hidden]

Are you comparing a BAT clinical trial to a CAR-T clinical trial?Clinical trials using FDA approved medications will be cheaper..the cost is getting them thru the FDA approval process. Using them off label is a different issue with a different cost structure.

You bloviate alot on your background

At 79. You've been out of the industry along time. My time spent developing/maintaining IT systems for a drug manufacturing exposed me to many different aspects and areas of the business. It's not just "internet" derived.

[Shooter1]

Being a veteran really helps me with drug costs... VA supplies them. Max for me has been $11 for Xtandi, somewhat less than $12,000. God bless the USA. Life Is Good, especially when you can afford to retire.. (at least so far)

[skateguy]

I was paying 20% for every drug because the drug was processed under my medical benefits. Long story short, call your health insurance company, and asked if they have a special pharmacy. My insurance company does. So after I convinced the mo to fax the prescription in, my out of pocket went from $1000 to a $50 co-pay. This is one thing very few people know about. In the US, some states must have in place to ensure the meds are processed under your prescription benefits, but not Virginia. If you go to a small local outfit they may refuse because they lose out on money. My mo refused so I went above his head and it all worked out.

[Concerned-wife]

Hopefully someone will know of a program. If you can, contact your Congressman and let him,her know of this issue for those on Medicare

Are you able to take abiraterone instead? …much cheaper. Might be worth asking your oncologist. Sometimes they don’t realize the difference in financial toxicity.

[Bethpage]

I think PAN, some others, covers prostate cancer when you're on Medicare. It covers my husband's CLL meds. My husband has been told it will also cover PCa meds. I have never placed a link in the forum and am not sure how it works, so will send privately. Funding is not always available. Sometimes you have to call back in a couple of weeks. This happened to my husband recently after constant availability for the last two years. He was told that might happen and to keep calling back when it did. When funding runs out (temporarily) for one specific cancer, that doesn't mean it's not available for another.

[MateoBeach]

You have not posted your medical history with PC on your profile. That would help us answer better. Abiraterone (Zytiga +p) is generic and now very inexpensive. For some it is effective at reduced dosage (250 or 500 mg/day rather than 1000) making it even more cost effective. It has been shown to be a better first choice AR drug over the lutamides, of which Erleada is one. Zytiga before Xtandi is better than the opposite sequence. So perhaps your MO would consider the switch now, before you become resistant, and broke!