Does a Remicade infusion really cost THAT much?

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Sha0913

Sha0913

Joined
Feb 16, 2011
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136
I live in new Jersey and get my Remicade and all procedures (anything medical) done at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the best place to be treated in the world to me(just opinion, I can call or email my doctor and they will almost always respond within minutes, no matter how big the situatuation). I have great insurance that covers 100% because I am a state employee working in the New Jersey School system. So i cant complain about my insurance or my hospital but I do get the statements from the hospital for my records and for my infusion every 6 weeks the cost on the statement says $16,000. Seriously?!?!?!
 
Yes!!! Here in Canada it is $4,100.00 per infusion, and I believe your intial doses are close together (been almost 3 years since I have had Remi) and our clinic is covered by the govt. Thank God I have 100% coverage too. The main point is,if it works for you, the price is worth it. Let us know how you are doing on it!
 
After insurance my portion is 1200 for the first infusion and 600 for each after that. Luckily I got on Remistart and they pay 4100 a year towards infusions which covers most of my costs. I wish I had your insurance, mine basically laughed at me when I my dr tried to get my colonoscopy covered because Im only 24. They told her it was an un nessesary treatment for anyone under 50 for any reason HAHAHA is all I had to say about that. Whatever you do dont loose that insurance:)
 
My treatments cost 3300 for meds, and I dont know how much the clinic costs because its covered by public healthcare.
 
I Don´t pay anything it´s completely free for us here since its regarded a necessary treatment.

It´s alot better than in the U.S i feel sorry for you guys having to pay to be relieved of suffering.


But i did ask my dr about the price for Remicade he said it costs about 20-30 000 € per patient per year.
 
Im not exactly sure how much the Remicade itself costs, but when I get the statement it has $16,654 as the total for the hospital bed for the 2 hour infusion, the med and for the nurse in the unit where I get the infusion. So all in all every 6 weeks my insurance pays over $16,000, thats 144,000 a year just for the remicade insusion, not including Drs appts, Iron Infusions, and blah blah blah, thank God I have state insurance that covers 100%, I feel for everyone out there that has to fight to pay or get help to pay for their meds.
 
Sha0913 said:
Im not exactly sure how much the Remicade itself costs, but when I get the statement it has $16,654 as the total for the hospital bed for the 2 hour infusion, the med and for the nurse in the unit where I get the infusion. So all in all every 6 weeks my insurance pays over $16,000, thats 144,000 a year just for the remicade insusion, not including Drs appts, Iron Infusions, and blah blah blah, thank God I have state insurance that covers 100%, I feel for everyone out there that has to fight to pay or get help to pay for their meds.
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It seems to be an extremly high amount in comparison to what my Dr told me!!
 
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I agree. My insurance covered my Remicade infusions 100%, but I remember it being somewhere around $4300/ infusion.
 
Im pretty sure the Remicade runs about $4500 but the rest of the cost are the hospitals outrageous costs. Which includes the bed fee, the Iv fee, the Iv site fee and so forth and so on. I'm at work now but I'm going to grab a statement and I will put the breakdown on here tommorow.
 
I just went through the cost myself because I'm getting my frist infusion tomorrow.

4000 per infusion that's just for the medication. The clinic is free.

Of that I am covered 80% with my insurance. That means I have 800$ left to pay. However in Canada when yuo reach the maximum 963$ per year the rest of your medication is free. I'm lucky I have a second insurance that covers 80% of the remaining 800 which means that I pay pretty much 200$ a year for my remicade. I could never afford 4000$ a shot. I do feel for people with no inssurance.
 
I have a $2500 deductible per year on my insurance but after that everything else (drugs, procedures, hospital, etc.) is 100% free. My last statement for remicade put it at $4,000 and that included the infusion, nurses, etc.

I just found out that a 30 day supply of Entocort is $1,000.00. Whoa! I'm just glad to be able to afford really good insurance. We are a small business so we have to pay for the insurance through the business. I can't imagine what things would be like if I had to do an 80/20 copay situation.

Cheers!
 
wow i love our national health system in new zealand, i had two remicade infusions that were free, i was told they would have cost $6000 each, which i would have spewed about if i had to pay, as they didnt work. i pay $40 for doctors visits, GI is free. $3 per script at the chemist and after 20 they are free. i feel sorry for you guys fighting insurance companies just to get your health sorted, and even more for those with no insurance. if i try a drug and it doesnt work, or i cant tolerate it, i throw them out because no one wants them and i cant return them, what a waste, when there are people inother countries strugling to afford them.
 
It truly disgusts me when i hear that people has to pay for something like this.

All governments should see that this is a necessity for us to even feel remotely normal and all treatments should be completely free for the chronically ill.

What they should do is to put real pressure on the Drug companies to actually heal us so that we can function better and cost less for the healthcare systems and that way they would be able to earn more money on us from taxes since we would be able to work a lot more.

All we get is disease management curing never seems to be on the table even though we hear about breakthroughs in medical science all the time.

For example i saw a program where scientists managed to make new bodyparts that had 0% chance to be rejected. They basically took the same organ from a dead body washed away everything from it and what remains is a very thin membrane that holds all the bloodveins and from this they have crated functioning hearts lungs and so on with stemcells and a woman in spain even have had one of these "parts" operated in to her and it works perfectly.

Why wouldnt this work on the intestions for example if someone needs to operate they can replace the whole intestion at once and than maybe the chance to get a flare again would be minimal. Or the need for a "bag" on the stomach would disappear forever.

Im just saying they should stop with this management of the disease what we need is people who thinks outside of the box and comes up with a cure.
 
That's why I love our NHS!
I asked how much for Infliximab and they said about £2000 per infusion.
But it's free over here.
 
On my EOB the drug typically cost about $6000. Luckily I only have to pay a $40 copay.
 
I guess the question is, what makes Remicade so expensive? Is it hard to find? Hard to mix? Hard to administer? What's the deal with that?

I don't know about anyone else, but I get Remicade literature from the pharmecutical company almost EVERY DAY. Big thick packets with nice pictures of people dancing around and talking about Remicade... sometimes there's a DVD or CD in there. I mean...that's a huge waste especially since I'm not the one who came up with the brilliant idea of going on Remicade. It was my doctor's idea.

Just sayin..
 
@Slightlysilly

I see that you take Predisone & Remicade at the same time, how do you feel?

I was thinking about asking my Dr about that since i feel good for about 10 Days after my Remicade infusions but after that the pains start up pretty fast again.
I was thinking about getting prednisone as a Remicade "helper" so to speak.

Or does this with the pains get better with time? Im having my third Remicade Infusion on the 22nd this month btw.
 
Biologic therapies are really hard to make. It takes a lot of man hours with not a lot of end products. This is why they are so expensive. I used to work in a plant that made a biologic therapy for macular degeneration. Its a lot of work.
 
I am in debt from this disease...so not fun. My insurance is trying to refuse paying for my last MRI. UGH. Stress is the best thing for Crohn's right?

I luckily am part of the Humira assistance program and only pay $5 a month for that. Humira's roughly $800 a shot, and I do 4 a month....insane.

All of your responses with gov't run health coverage sounds great.
 
@Sabin - I feel just ok. I'm of the belief that my ilium is ruined and is just probably causing me all of this pain. Currently, my GI is trying EVERYTHING before we go to surgery. Remicade has not helped me as of yet, but I've only been on it since December. The prednisone helped at first but then I had trouble tapering down (I invite you to my blog which is listed below) It explains my troubles with prednisone without going into too much detail. But like I said, it really worked at first, but the doctor only had me on it at 40mg for a week, and then my troubles began...

@Lydia - Interesting. So it really takes that much man power to make Remicade? What kind of people make remicade? Are they chemists? I really am interested in the process. I guess since there is such a discrepancy between the cost of the medication and the ability for most people to buy the medication (imagine if we all had to walk into a pharmacy and purchase Remicade for $4,000.00 per bag) I wonder if the price would be lower if insurance companies stopped paying. Then there's the whole national healthcare system that some of us have, and they pay the same amount. I guess when someone gets diagnosed with a chronic disease (such as Crohn's) you (or I) start to really pay attention to what drugs and procedures cost and then wonder how anyone without insurance or NHS can afford treatment.
 
Astra101 said:
That's why I love our NHS!
I asked how much for Infliximab and they said about £2000 per infusion.
But it's free over here.
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It's come down a lot in the past 10 years. It was £16,000 per infusion then. Crazy money!

Every time my co-worker complains about how much tax we pay, I tell him it covers my medical expenses and he shuts up lol
 
slightlysilly said:
.

@Lydia - Interesting. So it really takes that much man power to make Remicade? What kind of people make remicade? Are they chemists? I really am interested in the process. I guess since there is such a discrepancy between the cost of the medication and the ability for most people to buy the medication (imagine if we all had to walk into a pharmacy and purchase Remicade for $4,000.00 per bag) I wonder if the price would be lower if insurance companies stopped paying. Then there's the whole national healthcare system that some of us have, and they pay the same amount. I guess when someone gets diagnosed with a chronic disease (such as Crohn's) you (or I) start to really pay attention to what drugs and procedures cost and then wonder how anyone without insurance or NHS can afford treatment.
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Well it would take about a week from beginning to end. I did quality control, and if anything went wrong they would have to scrap the batch and start all over again. When the process was over there was maybe 1-2 kg of finished drug. The plant ran 24/7. The process is over seen by a phd, but chemists do all the grunt work. Critical steps have to be monitored by QC, and signed off by the supervisor(phd). Starting materials are very expenisive because purity is a must. Its not like other drugs, where there is 1-2 tons of product at the end of processing. Different biologics have different recipes so I cant really tell you how they make remicade except a very general description.
 
I am a British citizen living in the USA, life was great until my husband and my son both deeloped autoimmune disorders. Lee husband is on a different insurance to Brandon (son). Brandonds deductable is $7000 a year, Lee's is $2500. the premiums for the entire family (4) per month come to $425. When Brandon , Toby (other son) and I reach $7000 in a calendar year everything covered by the policy is covered 100% My husband is on 80% coverage until $10,000 out of pocket. In 2007 Lee was bitten by a blackwidow spider mowing the lawn. He was in hospital for 11 days, ended up with a staph infection, which triggered a so far undiagnosed autoimmune disease causing low platelets and white blood cells. Lee had surgery and had a bill for $49,000 of which we owed $19,000 it turns out the hospital was in the insurance network but the surgeon wasn't and out of network out of pocket is doubele $20000. We are still paying that bill. Same year Brandon had first diagnosis of crohns, after colonospcopy and a day in hospital we met his out of pocket $7000. So total medical expenses in 2007 were $31,000 approximately 40% of our income. Lucky for us we had a couple of credit cards!! We are still apying. Then this year Brandon had repeat colonoscopy and we hit the $7,000 deductable by the end of January. The hospital was slow to file insurance, so when they put us on Entocort at $1200/month, the insurance considers it a tier 3 drug and only pays $100 a month, we had to credit card it again, pharmacy's don't do payment plans like hospitals so we had to put out two months worth before the hospital filed the insurance. I don't think we will ever get out of debt and now Friday last week both Brandon's Doc and Lee's Doc independently recommended Remicade for Brandon and Rituximab (very similar drug) for Lee. Bothdrugs are highly expensive, and we are waiting to see if either insurance company covers them.
We are seriously thinking about moving back to the UK. If Lee gets so he can't work we won't be able to afford to pay the mortgage and the medical bills. I hear people here can die from a lack of insurance to pay for meds in diseases like Hepititis and HIV because they don't have insurance.
I am disgusted health insurance companies can be allowed to make a profit out of peoples sickness, and I wholeheartedly support a National Health System.
The propaganda of having to wait and not being able to get the drugs you need on a national health system is untrue. Just so you know in both Canada and the UK the $1200 a month entocort sells through the private healthcare network for $200 a month!!

OK venting over.

Have you seen the facebook page Entocort the road to poverty?? Anyway its not working so now it will be Remicade and Rituximab the road to poverty!

Vent over!!
 
Well, I got my first two bills for infusion one and two and they were $4000.00 for each (medicine only) then added expenses for infusion proceedure. I asked the girl at Remi Start if that was the standard cost and she said yes. I can see from your comments above, that yes, it's the standard cost. So what the hell.........how can one drug cost so darn much !!
 
With respect to the high cost associated with the biologics: part of the issue is that the makers of Remicade holds the patent over Remicade, and so a generic version can't be produced. The introduction of generic drugs really pushes the price of drugs down. The company that owns Remicade's patent will hold it for at least 12 years (although there's plenty of ways that pharmaceutical companies try to extend the clock).

The argument is that drug companies that hold the patent have put a lot of resources into research and development and therefore need to recoup the costs of R&D, as well as marketing costs. While it is estimated that these costs can run up to 800 million dollars (for more innovative drugs---most companies incur costs of about 100-200 million), a lot of pharmaceutical companies are doing the majority of their testing in (former) Eastern European and developing countries to minimize their research costs.

I was on a drug trial for Ustekinumab and it worked for me, but I was not able to get any more of the drug after the study ended. For me to pay out of pocket would have been over $10,000 out of pocket every three months. A business report that I read forecasts that if Ustekinumab is approved for people with Crohn's (it has a ways to go--Phase 3 hasn't yet started), the drug will earn the company over 6 billion dollars IN ONE YEAR. I think they will be able to recover ALL their costs within 12+ years.

Back in 2008-09, the amount of money made through the sale of Remicade was 5.2 billion dollars. I don't know what their recent sales are. For 12+ years, they have the monopoly over the drug so they're able to set the price.

Don't know if my post just confuses or muddies things up---if it does, my apologies!

Kismet
 
Great post Kismet,
I was shocked at the cost of some of the drugs. We were on Entocort for a while and the drug was $1200 a month, our insurance only paid $100, we had to pick up the other $1100. Good job I had a credit card! I wonder how many people go without the drugs they need because they can't afford it.
Should it really be a privilege to receive a medication that works?

I am biased because I lived in the UK for 23 years and experienced universal healthcare where this didn't happen.
Trina
 
A single Remicade infusion here in Japan costs 320,000 yen, or about $4000, just for the Remicade itself and then another $300 for lab work and the IV. Insurance only pays for 70% but luckily there is an income-based assistance program for people with chronic illnesses that covers most of the remainder (and 100% of all prescription drugs!). All in all, my out-of-pocket expense is about $15 per infusion. Even though I'm a long way from home, it's nice to I live in a country where my ability to be treated does not depend on my employment!
 
What are the programs for financial assistance? What are the best ways to get remicade and keep costs low? THANKS

- California
 
Mazer, look into remistart. I wouldn't have been able to stay on remicade without it! Remistart is a rebate program for people with med. insurance but with huge deductibles and minimum payments. It saved my life!
 
Yep loving our NHS.I joke to my dad that im helping him get his tax back everytime I have an infusion.
 
I'll second that, Cinny. Had my first infusion yesterday. They didn't even have it in the hospital. The IBD nurse has to order it when it's been authorised and pick it up from the chemist's cos it's expensive. £1,300 for the one I had. I was gobsmacked. Kinda makes you feel a bit guilty for being sick :-(
 
Do you have to pay back remistart?

Starla86 said:
After insurance my portion is 1200 for the first infusion and 600 for each after that. Luckily I got on Remistart and they pay 4100 a year towards infusions which covers most of my costs. I wish I had your insurance, mine basically laughed at me when I my dr tried to get my colonoscopy covered because Im only 24. They told her it was an un nessesary treatment for anyone under 50 for any reason HAHAHA is all I had to say about that. Whatever you do dont loose that insurance:)
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Hi I am wondering, do you have to pay back the 4100??? I have insurance much like yours, I will pay 1200 out of pocket and then 10% of everything until i hit 2400 out of pocket, the rest is covered... are there any stipulations to the remistart program???? I am skeptical.....
 
I don't know anything about Remistart, but I went through Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Remicade. I got approved and they ship the medicine directly to the infusion clinic. I had my first infusion last Tuesday (Oct. 25, 2011). I know I get Remicade through J&J for 12 months. It's honestly worth looking into at least.
 
Glad to hear someone else has received the free remicade from J&J! I am able to get it also but NO facility will accept it! How did you get an infusion center to accept the Remicade from J&J?
 
Jaime7880 said:
Glad to hear someone else has received the free remicade from J&J! I am able to get it also but NO facility will accept it! How did you get an infusion center to accept the Remicade from J&J?
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I don't know, I didn't realize it would potentially be an issue. I'm on financial assistance through the hospital anyway, so it's possible that they aren't accepting it from J&J. Sad thing is, right after my third infusion, I contracted MRSA (not from the clinic) and had to stop the Remicade for a while. I had another infusion in the early part of June and a week later I went through my 4th bout of MRSA. Now I have no treatment options, other than possibly surgery, and even that may not happen. *Sigh*
 
Hello, I am 18 and i live in BC canada. I have been on remicade for about 4 years now (i was diagnosed with crohn's when i was 12 years old). yes remicade is expansive! for me it costs 5600$ every 6 weeks (my infusion is every 6 weeks) but thank god for pharmacare and for the manufacturer(they gave me 2 free infusions when i was moving across canada when i didn't have health care).. they pay for everything i just have to pay 250$ at the start of the year. :thumright:

remicade does wonders for me though, i've literally been on everything you can think of to treat crohn's and remicade is the only one that has worked and kept on working.
 
I am billed $6200 a treatment for my Remicade.

For those on a NHP (?) how much do you pay in taxes (%) per year to be covered? I am guessing taxes pay for the plan?

Lauren
 
Before I rejected remicaide I to had financial help from J&J. My doctors office did the infusions with Johnson and Johnson's approval. I do not know what has changed since then.
 
Insurance is sticky here as well. My infusions are $6800 every 6 weeks. Thankfully it's administered at a privately funded clinic so I don't pay anything to actually receive the treatment.

Initially I had to wait 6 months to receive special approval from the insurance company in order for them to cover it 100%. The company I'm working for decided to change their policy and didn't underwrite in any exceptions to the rules. They chose another drug that treats RA and decided that since Remicade treated RA and this new drug was cheaper that regardless of the disease, it would no longer be covered. Unfortunately for me, this new RA drug does nothing to help with Crohn's so I can't substitute it.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the pharmacy to pick up Remicade and they told me my total is $6800. I almost fainted. My company had not communicated this change in coverage to me even though it had changed 6 weeks prior!! (I was SO MAD!) I had to apply to pay for special non-group coverage through my provincial government in order for them to pick it up.I was not approved until 3 infusions later so Remicade has cost me alot of money this year. I pay between two benefits plans about $500/month. My other medication is still not 100% covered either. That's alot better than paying thousands. The government plan only approves it for 2 months periods, so every 8 weeks my doctor has to submit results and a letter stating that Remicade is still a necessary treatment. I don't want to think about what would happen if they rejected it!

This is an expensive disease and doesn't receiving the funding it should. I have so much to say on this topic but it gets my blood boiling! The only good thing? I have a ton of airmiles now thanks to these drugs :biggrin:
 
I know I got a statement after each of my first 2 infusions. The Remicade was $10100 and the bed was $156. I about fell off the couch.
 
The difference in prices is very interesting. My infusion center charges my insurance company (Tricare) $3300 total but Tricare only pays them $1100. So in reality, my Remicade infusion costs my insurance company $1100. It only costs me a $12 co-pay. Crazy the difference that people/insurance companies pay.
 
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remicade

Thank God my insurance pays 100% the statement I get says it is $12,800 per infusion and I get it at my Dr.
 
I hope my parents can afford this medication! My dad just quit his job today... and this treatment is crazy expincive. I'm only twelve and shouldn't be worrying about this, but its kind of hard not to. I haven't even started Remicade yet. (I start it Friday) I don't like IV's, I'm going to miss A BUNCH of days, and I'm a nervous wreck. (I like seriously have a phobia of IV needles) What of it doesn't work like it needs to.
 
I am on Medicaid primary and Blue Cross/Blue Shield as secondary. Although the cost of infliximab is listed at $14,376 and other charges bring the total to $16,526 the provider adjusts costs so that the total is lower by $14,708 and then Medicaid picks up most of the balance so I wind up paying anywhere from $137 to $ 188 as copay. The drug price that is initially quoted is obviously not what anyone is paying. I have been on it for about five years now and get an infusion every two monthys.
 
I find it sad that in The U.S. people have to pay so much for Remicade. I recently started Remicade infusions and I live in Canada. Each infusion costs $4000.00 + clinic/nurse costs. With my provincial drug coverage and my private drug coverage at work I am covered 100% for the cost of the drug, and of course since we have healthcare covered by the government, I pay $0.00 for the nurse/clinic. IN FACT, I was pleasantly surprised and a bit shocked to learn that each time I go for an infusion they give me a $200.00 Visa gift card to spend on whatever I want. I can just go shopping after my infusion, lol. Buy myself a little pick-me-up. It's pretty nice. The gift card comes from the pharmacy that orders the Remicade for me, it's kind of like a rewards thing. So I'm actually making $1200.00/year by being on Remicade. I don't know if they do that in other provinces, but they do here in Manitoba.
 
Alberta Health picks up my Remicade every 8 weeks and I have it done at a private infusion clinic - loungers, big screen TV, movies, snacks. And the pharmacy gives me a $50 Visa card. It doesn't go through my private health insurance at all. My GI at Foothills Hospital signed me up for a program & all I have to do is call AB Health once a year to get my limit of $25,000 increased. Been on Remicade for 2 years now (Humira & Imuran didn't work).
 
Before insurance im billed nearly $14000
after insurance im billed over $300
but with an assistance program i should only pay $50
 
My Remi is mail ordered thru the specialty pharmacy of my insurance program. They mail it to the hospital infusion center. So I pay them the co pay for that. The Hospital then bills me for the infusion. According to the online list of meds that have been dispensed for me. the Remi runs between $4700 and $5200 every 6 weeks. My co-pay is minimal compared to that dollar amount.

One time the Hospital messed up and charged me for the drug as well as the infusion procedure. The bill for that time was over $15,000.00. Talk about a heart attack when I bot that bill!!!! I checked with the pharmacy and the bill for that particular time from them was only $5600.

What that told me is the hospital was overcharging the insurance company. And we wonder why costs are going where they are going.
 
I live in Finland and I was told that Remi costs 1500€ (2000$) each infusion. I have to pay 27€ (36$) for visit to hospital (day rate, its always the same no matter what they do to you) and after certain amount the rest is free (can't remember the amount but something like 700€) Kind of same with Humira for example, you get it from pharmacy and pay up to 670€, after that all the drugs are free for rest of the year.

System works and it does not discriminate people. Its the same for all of us, no matter how rich or poor you are or where you work or have insurance. In fact insurance has nothing to do with it.

I feel bad if people do not get the treatment they need just because lack of money or insurance.
 
I just started treatment for psoriasis, but I wanted to comment on this thread about the cost of remicade. I just received my first bill, and JUST for the medicine, it was $25,160.92. My ins. said they will pay $14,485.22.

I have had three treatments before I received this bill. So now I owe $32,027.10 out of pocket. What stinks is that this treatment is working, and now I need to stop it. This sucks!!
 
can not afford, you should apply for remistart, google it, they cover what ins. doesn't.
 
Hi Clash,

I will do the remistart, but it only pays for $8, 000 for 12 months. I still have five more treatments for this year. That will be an additional $50, 000 added to the $32, 000 that I owe now. I went to the links suggested bt temicade for other financial assistance and they were eitjer not taking nrw psoriasis patients or you needed to be at least 65 years old.
 
I had to stop here in US because it will cost me $ 3,770 till I reach of $8,000 max insurance wise. I have REmi start the hospital got it for me paid for 2 infusions but have to wait to Oct before they give me more money on card. Doctor is looking into JJ the maker for help because need it badly. Also use 6 mp . Will not do monthly payment rather suffer than have debt!
 
My infusion cost almost $10,000. And THATS just going to an infusion center..no hospital! I sit in a chair next to 10 other people..cant have a family member sit with u..they do provide drink and crackers amd a tv. I am there 3 hpurs.

I have to meet a 1500 ded. For my ins to pay 80% and theneet ANOTHER $4500 for my ins to pay 100%. I signed up for remistart to help but not sure how much help yet.

My first infuaion for this year i had to pay out of pocket $2500..my 1500 ded. Plusy 20%. Eh
 
ThePear said:
I find it sad that in The U.S. people have to pay so much for Remicade. I recently started Remicade infusions and I live in Canada. Each infusion costs $4000.00 + clinic/nurse costs. With my provincial drug coverage and my private drug coverage at work I am covered 100% for the cost of the drug, and of course since we have healthcare covered by the government, I pay $0.00 for the nurse/clinic. IN FACT, I was pleasantly surprised and a bit shocked to learn that each time I go for an infusion they give me a $200.00 Visa gift card to spend on whatever I want. I can just go shopping after my infusion, lol. Buy myself a little pick-me-up. It's pretty nice. The gift card comes from the pharmacy that orders the Remicade for me, it's kind of like a rewards thing. So I'm actually making $1200.00/year by being on Remicade. I don't know if they do that in other provinces, but they do here in Manitoba.
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Well heck..THATS nice!!
 
I spoke to a nurse at the mdu in the local hospital where I have my infliximab infusions about a year ago and asked how much the treatment would have cost if I had to pay, (here in Wales it is covered by the NHS), she told me it was approx £3,000.00 per infusion. I have to go every 6 weeks at present.
 
This is a great thread

I know that the U.S. consistently pays the most for all pharmaceutical drugs as compared to all other countries. I think the main reason is that the U.S. does not negotiate the prices of drugs like other countries, instead they let insurance companies control the pricing. I think drug companies see America as their profit center where they recoup all their research and development costs and get a lot of profit.

I live in Canada and I pay a $2000/year deductible plus $200 per infusion and I believe it costs the government roughly $6,000 per dose but could be more or less based on your body weight.

I am trying to find a job in the U.S. and I am wondering what I can expect to pay for this drug. I hope to have health insurance through my job but I doubt that covers remicade.

What options exists if you want to buy coverage in the U.S. to help pay for your remicade? any advice or information would be much appreciated
 
ThePear said:
I find it sad that in The U.S. people have to pay so much for Remicade. I recently started Remicade infusions and I live in Canada. Each infusion costs $4000.00 + clinic/nurse costs. With my provincial drug coverage and my private drug coverage at work I am covered 100% for the cost of the drug, and of course since we have healthcare covered by the government, I pay $0.00 for the nurse/clinic. IN FACT, I was pleasantly surprised and a bit shocked to learn that each time I go for an infusion they give me a $200.00 Visa gift card to spend on whatever I want. I can just go shopping after my infusion, lol. Buy myself a little pick-me-up. It's pretty nice. The gift card comes from the pharmacy that orders the Remicade for me, it's kind of like a rewards thing. So I'm actually making $1200.00/year by being on Remicade. I don't know if they do that in other provinces, but they do here in Manitoba.
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I almost can't believe this, considering how much I pay for this drug, even with pretty good insurance in the US.

How are you getting rewards on something you're not paying for?
 
I get my prescriptions from a grocery store pharmacy and I get coupons ranging from 0.50- $20.00 for each prescriptions based on price. The way they see it someone is paying for it, insurance or you, since they aren't going to give a coupon to the insurance company and they want you to fill prescriptions their you get it. Though a $200 dollar visa would be way better. ;) (Also in Canada BTW)
 
I dont have crohns. I have different problem which I take remicade. Interesting thread about costs. In Australia it costs $4500 per infusion in hospital. I dont have any insurance, never had medical insurance. I have a healthcare card given to me by the Aussie government and everything is free. My Dr bulkbills medicare so I dont pay anything for Dr visit. My pharmacy scripts for drugs cost $6 each. So remicade cost me $6. After I reach a limit I dont even pay the $6. Hospital is free.
I cannot believe what you guys pay in usa.
Michael Moore made a documentary about it "Sicko".... I thought he was exaggerating.

Remicade here only comes in 100mg vials. How much you get depends on your weight. 5mg mixed with 10ml sterile water per kg of body weight. Which is different to humira and enbrel where one injection fits all. I need 540mg of remicade. They throw out 60mg about $500 worth. Apparently they throw a lot out.

Diagnosed - Ankylosing spondylitis
Remicade 540mg - 6 weekly
prednisone 15mg - daily
Norspan patches - 2 x 20mg - weekly
Pan forte upto 8 daily
 
copeland said:
I almost can't believe this, considering how much I pay for this drug, even with pretty good insurance in the US.

How are you getting rewards on something you're not paying for?
Click to expand...

I dunno, I just do. The drug company is making money off of it, so whether or not I pay, or the government pays, the drug company is getting paid, so I guess it's a sort of thank you gift. It's really no different than when I go to the pharmacy and get any prescription filled. I get my air miles points, so it's sort of the same thing.
 
I was just reading all of the comments on this page and am happy to see that most people are getting their infusions pretty cheap or free... Thats great! Because I know for a while people were having are hard time with payment! ♡♡♡♡
 
I am jealous of you guys with Remicade covered by insurance (at least partially).
In China, Remicade is special med that must be paid by the patient itself.
The standard price is 6000 RMB per 50 mg(which is approximately 1000 USD). My weight is 60 kg, so I need 150 mg per infusion. So it costs me about 3000 USD.
 
My oldest daughter was first diagnosed with Crohn's in 2003. She was in College and spent most of her Junior year in the hospital. Finally, it was highly recommended to us that she begin a 'new' drug called Remicade. Although we had BCBS, it did not recognize Remicade as drug they covered due to it being so new. We had to pay 9,560 per month for just the serum! After 2 years of treatment, BCBS finally placed Remicade on their list in Mississippi. Sadly, it was after we lost our home and all savings as we could not find any financial help. Still, BCBS only paid 80% of $10,000 per month.
Our daughter only applied for jobs after graduation in States that offered School teachers insurance which covered Remicade 100%. She is still on Remicade but living in another State which covers her treatment.
We now have another daughter newly diagnosed with Crohn's. We are seeking to move from Mississippi due to it's State and Teachers Insurance program thru BCBS.
Thankfully, the cost has declined over the years.
 
KitKat2, the Remistart program will cover what insurance doesn't. We have BCBS and I think with it and Remistart we paid about 247.00 per year. Remistart isn't financial based, you may want to contact them.
 
moogie said:
I just went through the cost myself because I'm getting my frist infusion tomorrow.

4000 per infusion that's just for the medication. The clinic is free.

Of that I am covered 80% with my insurance. That means I have 800$ left to pay. However in Canada when yuo reach the maximum 963$ per year the rest of your medication is free. I'm lucky I have a second insurance that covers 80% of the remaining 800 which means that I pay pretty much 200$ a year for my remicade. I could never afford 4000$ a shot. I do feel for people with no inssurance.
Click to expand...

As I am Canadian I can tell you that each Province is different - in Quebec it may be $963 per year but in order to get Remicade I had to pay a deductible of $1800 per year based on my income - I live in BC - next year will be different based on last year's income. And Remicade has a program that covered most of that cost for me. No longer on Remicade (allergic) - now on Humira - slightly lower cost
 
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Trust me this is cheap- humira pens are around $2400 a pop retail. They comes in a box of two. This is without any insurance or financial aid applied. That's a retail number, I have seen it higher.
 
Hello, I am Brazilian and I have crohn's disease. I wonder if the government provides the remicade for foreigners.For example, if I study or live in the USA for a period of time, the government provides the treatment?
 
The development of Remicade/Infliximab has an interesting story. Big pharma didn't create it. It was initially developed by a couple scientists out of NYU doing interferon research in the 80s. They eventually worked with the drug company Centecor (now Janssen) to bring the drug to market for RA. Eventually J&J bought them. There was a lot of collaboration between various scientists refine the drug, so there's a rich royalty stream going back to them. One of the original developers of the drug is donating about $100 million back to NYU to support biomedical research. Anyhow, it's true big pharma may seem to be making a lot of profits, but there's usually more to the story than meets the eye. You also have to consider in the States, the whole medical malpractice crud adds a great deal of cost to the bottom line of providers.
 
I'm wondering if there is any diffrence between the regions in the UK concerning Remicade/Infliximab for Crohn's, because I am going to move to Canterbury next year. Is it available via NHS everywhere in the UK (free of charge)? Does anyone know?
 
I didn't read the entire thread, but I did recently request an itemized statement for all of my medical treatment so far this year.

My insurance company is being billed over $18,000 per treatment of Remicade. (I live in the USA)
 
There was a great clip on I think it was 60 minutes about 15 years back on the pricing of medication (I could be wrong about the show, but it was one of those sorts of programs). They were wondering the same thing, and the gist of it had nothing to do with actual development and manufacture costs but rather how much the treatment for a disease would run if the patient was hospitalized for treatment instead. The goal was then to price it so it was just under that amount. Remicade certainly isn't a rare medication anymore, so the price can't be driven by novelty.
 
we are extremely lucky in Australia. Infliximab (remicade) was put on our PBS (pharmaceutical benefits scheme) around 2007-2008 from memory. It means that our government covers most of the cost. I receive infusions every 8 weeks for the past 8 years. It costs me between $6 and $35. Very lucky. Can anyone in New Zealand tell me what it costs there? I am kiwi born and considering moving back to NZ...........
 
So, if my son agrees, he will soon be starting Remicade.

It is covered by our insurance and husband already contacted Remistart. Is there anything else we should be doing ahead of time? We see the GI tomorrow.
 
I'm really lucky. I live in UT and I'm on state Medicaid, and they cover 100% of my medical expenses because I'm still under 18. When my mom and I talked with my doctor about what the expenses would be without insurance, he said each Remicade infusion would be around $3,800. That, plus all the hospital bills and prescription medications for me, would put us at paying $8,500 a month. My mom's going back to school and has no income, so we'd be almost $102,00 in debt if the state didn't pay for it. Thank goodness we qualified for Medicaid!
 
We'd already met our $6,000 deductable when our son started Remicade in April so I don't know what it actually costs us. I'm curious, though!
 
Boy is it expensive. Luckily I have the VA and they give it to me free, but they still charge my civilian insurance but don't make me pay copayments. I looked at my statement and one infusion cost over $15k! I got really depressed and thought with that much money being made off just one patient every two months...why would they cure crohn's??!! But I believe there has to be some good people in this world who will do the right thing.
 
My hospital bills Medicare $24,550 every six weeks for the privilege of me sitting in a chair for four hours. My supplement pays the remainder of the bill that Medicare approves.

Imagine my surprise when I suddenly after five years of this owed $225.00 per month that the hospital was dunning me for three sessions.

I called Medicare who told me I was being charged for a second injection.
I raised Cain with the hospital who said it was because since my infusion lasts four hours that they can charge for an additional stick since most patients have to have one after that length of time. I told them I am a hard stick and no nurse is going to stick me,a second time, without me knowing about it and it has never happened! The charge disappeared.
 
Paulalouisec24 said:
How much is infliximab in Australia??
Click to expand...
Bit late to the party here. Don't know how much you know about our health system, but our taxes fund Medicare. It's a universal healthcare system so all citizens/permanent residents can access quality healthcare for free. Infusions are free if done through a public hospital or clinic. The drug itself is covered by a government-funded pharmaceutical scheme which subsidises the cost. It is $37.70 out-of-pocket per dose, but you only pay this once you have exceeded a threshold of $1270 (I think). It was free for me for the first year pretty much. I'm not sure of the exact full-fee cost for non-Medicare patients, but I've heard around $2200 per dose.
 
sabin said:
It truly disgusts me when i hear that people has to pay for something like this.

All governments should see that this is a necessity for us to even feel remotely normal and all treatments should be completely free for the chronically ill.

What they should do is to put real pressure on the Drug companies to actually heal us so that we can function better and cost less for the healthcare systems and that way they would be able to earn more money on us from taxes since we would be able to work a lot more.

All we get is disease management curing never seems to be on the table even though we hear about breakthroughs in medical science all the time.

For example i saw a program where scientists managed to make new bodyparts that had 0% chance to be rejected. They basically took the same organ from a dead body washed away everything from it and what remains is a very thin membrane that holds all the bloodveins and from this they have crated functioning hearts lungs and so on with stemcells and a woman in spain even have had one of these "parts" operated in to her and it works perfectly.

Why wouldnt this work on the intestions for example if someone needs to operate they can replace the whole intestion at once and than maybe the chance to get a flare again would be minimal. Or the need for a "bag" on the stomach would disappear forever.

Im just saying they should stop with this management of the disease what we need is people who thinks outside of the box and comes up with a cure.
Click to expand...
Food supply has to be completely overhauled and change.

And in the United States of America, ehem, I mean the Corporate States of America. Money. Trumps. Everything.

Money trumps morals, money trumps human life, money trumps environment, etc...

It is truly a DISGUSTING society we live in.
 
Due to a paperwork issue between the hospital and our insurance company, the hospital thought we might not have been covered for our son's last infusion (worked out fine) and called the day after to discuss our payment of nearly 18k. We bought our other son a brand new Toyota Corolla a couple years ago and it was also 18k. Insane.
 
Well, for my husband, I have always seen Remicade claims of around $52K (I know!). This was when he was on 10 mg/kg. Now he is on 5 mg/kg and the claims are around $28K. He is getting treated at NYU, maybe that is why the high cost, but still..Costly costly disease!
 
Wow. That's insane. For 6 vials it costs me 6300. We don't pay for nursing/ infusion stuff here but it seems crazy to think nursing care and infusion stuff costs 22 000 dollars.
 
Hello friends ~ I've been on Remicade since 2009 and have explored costs in Oregon and California. The drug is NOT what costs so much. It's where you're getting the infusion. I know it's hard to believe that your doctor or hospital could be ripping you off so much, but if you call around to different infusion clinics, doctor's offices, hospitals, and so on, you will find DRAMATIC differences in cost. For the same dose, my same weight, same time intervals. My dose is 70mg per kilogram. I'm 160 pounds. I get them every 8 weeks. And I get a double dose.

Here are the price breakdowns:
Coram Infusion Centers (San Diego, CA) - $3,500
Coram Infusion Centers (Tigard, Oregon) - $4,000 - $5,000
Legacy / OHSU Hospital (Portland, Oregon) - $17,000
The Oregon Clinic (Portland, Oregon) - $12,000
Northwest Gastroenterology (Portland, Oregon) - $19,000
Bend Rheumatology (Bend, Oregon) - $2,500

You should call our your doctor or hospital if they're charging you more than $3,000 - and berate them for trying to make such gross profits off of you. Write letters to editors, the heads of hospitals and everyone you can. It's highway robbery. They shouldn't be allowed to do it, but it's your job as the consumer to get the info and look around for an affordable place to have it done.

Peace //
 
cest_elle said:
Hello friends ~ I've been on Remicade since 2009 ...

Here are the price breakdowns:
Coram Infusion Centers (San Diego, CA) - $3,500
Coram Infusion Centers (Tigard, Oregon) - $4,000 - $5,000
Legacy / OHSU Hospital (Portland, Oregon) - $17,000
The Oregon Clinic (Portland, Oregon) - $12,000
Northwest Gastroenterology (Portland, Oregon) - $19,000
Bend Rheumatology (Bend, Oregon) - $2,500

Peace //
Click to expand...
If you look up average wholesale price (AWP) for Remicade, it comes in anywhere between $600-$800 per (100mL) vial. So at standard 5mL/Kg dose, an average person would take 4 vials, anywhere from $2.4K-$3.2K.

Here's a slide deck from Cincinnati Children's that covers some good info on various biologics, and talks about their costs.
 

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