Cost of rejection drugs

[bisley]

I am scheduled for a transplant and i was just reviewing the cost of the rejection drugs. Does medicare cover these drugs? If not, i dont know how i will be able to pay for them and it will not be fair to my donor if i lose the kidney because of that.

[RhenDutchess123]

Medicare will only pay for 3 years...but hopefully you wont need the majority of them by then...there may be other financial help if you do

[LisaSnow in reply to RhenDutchess123]

Seriously? How is that possible since the meds are needed for lifetime?

[OperationKidney]

Yes, Medicare does cover them. If you have a secondary insurance that insurance should pick up the portion Medicare doesn't pay for. In fact I believe there is a law that has recently passed through congress or part of Congress that states that other private insurances must also cover the drugs we have to take for transplant, but I'm not sure of all the exact details.

[Pierre1967]

Hello. Most times when you receive a transplant, you are assigned a social worker. I would ask them for resources for medication assistance.

[Monica4268]

Medicare does pay for these meds. In TX we also have kidney healthcare through the state that covers the balance Medicare does not. Most states have these supplemental plans. Social worker should set you up with all of these. After the three yrs there are patient assistance program through many of the med manufacturers. All will be ok. Good luck! It’s a blessing!

[DexterLab]

Medicare will continue the coverage if you are over 65, as I understand it.

[kidneygurllll]

Yes, Medicare does cover it, but if you want to look into the reality of out of pocket prices I recommend going onto goodrx, search for the generic name, and see the best reduced prices from different pharmacies. I did use it for myself before because I wanted to have month of backup when the pandemic hit and medicare would only pay for a month (since they pay for monthly refills only and you can’t get meds months in advance — atleast in my case they wouldn’t approve it. I live in CA FYI) the prices were reasonable to me but then again everyone’s financial situation is different so keep that in mind. Looking into second form of insurance like the others said is good advice as well. Hope my two cents helped! God bless 💜