Why people need health insurance: $240 for an Advair inhaler

[hedgehog]

Right now my health insurance is really, really screwed up. If I want to refill my script for Advair, it would cost me $240. Thank heavens my husband had one he wasn't using!

I have no idea what the mark-up on this is. The older inhalers went away when some of the propulsive gases were banned. (even if there was an exception for medical uses, the cost of making such a small amount of the gas would be outlandish). But I don't smoke, I get my flu shot faithfully each year, I wash my hands often, etc. I'm still dealing with some kind of asthma/bronchitis/pneumonia situation. Sometimes you do all the right things and still get sick.

Also, I am very glad my family doctor will see me Monday if I'm still sick and very glad he's willing to wait while my insurance gets squared away. I suspect he'll listen to my lungs, then send me home with some prednisone. No x-rays, no expensive tests. He's been our family doctor for over 25 years and he knows his patients. Until everyone can get that kind of care, we need to reform out health care system!

And by the way - all you jackasses who think we need co-pays so people won't abuse the system - I should have called my doctor Thursday, but I didn't because I try to deal with these things myself!

[nobodyspecial]

1. I think you are a bit confused

They still make rescue inhalers. Yes, they changed the formulation and you have to suck in more deeply to get it into your lungs. Advair is a completely different class of asthma treatment.

This article explains the difference:
http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/asthma_inhalers_bronchodilators

If you are having serious issues with asthma, the Advair won't help you (and could make it worse). It takes up to a week for it to build in your system. Your doctor would have you using a rescue inhaler as well at the same time. You may not be able to wait until Monday.

Not being able to breathe is nothing to mess around with. Please go in if it gets worse. Can you walk up a flight of stairs? Do you have pain between your shoulder blades or your ribs? If you answer yes, you really are in a crisis situation and need to get into an immediate care facility or ER.

On edit, I forgot one more check: Watch your breathing in the mirror and if the little indent at the base of your neck and top of your collar bone really sucks in, your airway is badly compromised and you need immediate care.

[SoCalDem]

3. Does steamy moist air ease your symptoms?

I used to have my son (when he had bronchitis) breathe through a wet (very hot) washcloth. It's very old-school, but it calmed things down enough for him to relax & breathe better....and it stopped the hacking cough cycle for a while.

[hedgehog]

6. I love me some hot steamy air! I toook a long shower this morning before using my Advair,

trying to get my lungs relaxed so i could get the medication in.

[hedgehog]

4. I'm a bit behind the times on the rescue inhalers.

The kind of asthma I deal with has more to do with inflammation of the lung surface than narrowing of the bronchial passages, so the rescue inhalers like albuterol don't really help. So my airway is open, it's just messed up.

I switched from albuterol to Advair about the same time the old propulsive gases went off the market, so I'm unfamiliar with the current designs for the rescue inhalers. A lot of people complained that the change from one type of delivery system to the other was all about profits for Big Pharma (going from a generic to a patented form.) It was really all about taking certain gases off the market to protect the ozone layer. Once those gases weren't used for all kinds of spray cans, it wasn't economically feasible to make up a single small batch to supply medical inhalers. My guess is that some medications can be mixed with other propellents, and some like the steroids in Advair don't.

I'm feeling somewhat better as the Advair takes hold, and my husband will take me to the ER if I get in trouble. I think I can wait until Monday to see the doctor. But - if I didn't have the Advair, I'd be in the ER today.

[Cleita]

2. Back when I didn't have insurance that covered my inhaler,

I signed up for studies with Glaxo. I had to try their experimental drugs, many which are on the market today, as well as being provided with my regular one. I also got paid a small amount of money. I don't really recommend being a guinea pig, but sometimes it can fill a need if you have no insurance or your insurance won't pony up. See if there are any studies in your area. I was living in Texas at the time and since respiratory diseases are high there, the PhRMAs conducted studies. Also, any university that has research hospitals like UCLA often have many studies going on.

[hedgehog]

5. I'll be OK as soon as the company gets the problem with the insurance straightened out -

some buried line of computer code keeps moving us from a co-pay to a deductible. But it really is a smack upside the head to see what people with lousy or no health insurance face all the time!

[spinbaby]

7. $5000 for three months here

My prescription for an injectable blood thinner was over $5000 for a three-month supply. I'm lucky to have decent health insurance.

[RebelOne]

8. I do not know if it is an Advair, but my neighbor,

who has respiratory problems and does not have insurance gets hers for free.

[brer cat]

9. $73 if you order it from Canada.

Same brand, made in England. That is for Advair 250/50.

[Jane Austin]

10. Careful.

Advair can predispose you to upper respiratory infection.

It gave me laryngitis for three weeks before a doctor made the connection.

It's right there in the fine print.

I much prefer NasalChrome®. $13.95 over the counter. It's great for allergies and asthma.

It was all the rage in the early 90's, until they made it non-prescription.

[hedgehog]

11. I think the problem is that a number of problems get lumped

under the diagnosis of asthma. For example - I am convinced that my family gets a disease in which the lungs fill with liquid and/or the surface of the lungs gets coated with something - an autoimmune pneumonia if you will. That's why Advair is effective for us. Since the tubes are all wide open, a bronchiole dilator doesn't help. But you are correct that it's imperative for people to take an active part in their health care and take a look at all their meds. I think that for any given drug, a certain percentage of people are going to have a bad reaction.

[leftstreet]

12. No. This is why people need national healthcare n/t