Cost of Rebif/Gilenya

[Edge Of Ruin]

I was shocked when my MS pen pal told me the cost of Rebif per month was $4000 and that she couldn't afford it
if it weren't for the MS Society. I can't believe it would take that much to make the drug and I believe its fraud on a grand scale taking advantage of desperate people because they know they are sick and would do anything to get their medication.
My MS Pen Pal's neuro says she's no better and no worse and that the Rebif is responsible for keeping her stable. But, how does she know Rebif is really responsible? She's been on it five years. She want's to get off it and try
Gilenya but wants to know how much it costs monthly. She says, "It's FDA approved and I'm curious as to how much they are charging for people who are desperate to get off their needles." She can hardly bear to be on Rebif any longer and her abdomen and thighs are a mass of welts. Her neuro has seen what the injections are doing to her body and yet he just tells her to keep on with the Rebif as there is nothing better on the market and he doesn' seem concerned. I say her neuro is liar!!!! I hope my MS pen pal can get off Rebif and get to try Gilenya if she has to get another neuro. She needs advice.
Surfer Ed

[Edge Of Ruin]

Surprised no one posted. Found the answer myself.

OK. The thread can just hang here in limbo. I found out that the cost of Gilenya is even more expensive than Rebif.
No one who isn't wealthy could ever pay out of pocket for it.

[Myoak]

OK. The thread can just hang here in limbo. I found out that the cost of Gilenya is even more expensive than Rebif.
No one who isn't wealthy could ever pay out of pocket for it.

Amazing! $45,000 for Tysabri! Gilenya, Rebif and Tysabri all seem to have similiar costs. Perhaps you have read my post that we paid $23,000 per year in 2006 for tysabri and approx. $45,000 this year.

You bring up an extremely important topic which we as consumers do not pay enough attention to ... SKYROCKETING DRUG COSTS! Too often we discuss our co-pay as if that is the only cost affecting us ... WRONG! According to Nightly Business Report 5-18-11 health insurance costs are expected to rise 8% this year and 8.5% next. Even if we have insurance with a low co-pay we are paying for high drug costs through insurance rate increases. And God help the ever increasing population who cannot afford health care insurance, or have already been bankrupted by medical expenses, having insurance or not.

Some of the blame goes to us. For example, we are the ones who do not ask the cost of a procedure in order to price shop. Comparison is difficult because obscuring medical cost is standard operating procedure in the medical profession. We have something done and don't find out the cost until we get the bill. Imagine buying unpriced groceries and getting the bill two months later in the mail! We as consumers of health care do that every day.

It doesn't do much good to ask the staff ... try it, I have many times ... they have no idea what the cost is. I have a family member who is a radiologist. He told me that he doesn't know what his facility charges for an MRI, nor how much he is paid to read it.

You have to dig that info out of the billing dep't. And it can take substantial time and effort to do so, but it is worth doing. My wife gets an MRI every 6 months. A facility 12 miles from home charges $3200 for the identical MRI another facility 9 miles away charges $2100. It is my own fault if I pay the higher price.

It would be a great help if we all insisted that the medical profession would disclose costs rather than disguise them. It is our own fault that we do not demand to know what we are paying for something. A free market system cannot work without publishing prices. That is one reason medical costs are bankrupting us both individually and as a nation. And will continue to do so.

Thank you so much for bringing up the issue of cost.