What is the approximate expenses per month for non-active colitis in California US?

[colitis_ind]

Hi All,
Greetings from India. I work as an engineer in Bangalore. I have been suffering from Ulcerative Colitis for over 6 years.Recently, I have been asked to move to California(possibly bay area) . My PPP adjusted salary in India is approx $ 140k , where as my proposed salary in US is $ 90K(which is less considering cost of living there) . I have been avoiding this for a very long time now, but for my long term career growth I will have to work for a couple of years in US HQ.
I am on remission for the last 1-2 years and currently on Lialda(mesalamine 1.2g morning and night) and Imuran( 150mg) .
Company will be providing 450$ per month Family Insurance with $ 5000 deductible. Is the insurance good enough? What would be approximate cost per month to purchase all my medications? What are the other things I should consider before moving?
Note : I am married, and do not have kids.

 

[ronroush7]

Does anyone know the cost of living out there in California and other things he has to take into account?

 

[Robrich]

Lialda is quite expensive. Imuran not so much. You should try and bring as much meds as you can from India as I am sure they are much cheaper there. You may even be able to have them sent to you.
You will need to find a good gi to monitor your disease. 5k is a pretty high deductible and you can quite easily use it up with labs and tests. Also does it allow you to see any doc you want or are you restricted to a small network?
Bay Area housing costs are off the charts high.
Good luck

 

[colitis_ind]

Hi Rob,
Thank you for your reply. I wasn't aware of restrictions in Insurance. Thanks for bringing it to my notice. I will ask the company HR for more details.
I will try to get as much medicine as possible. Hopefully Port authorities will be generous.
One Last Question. Do Doctors in US prescribe Generic Medicine? for example, Lialda equivalent Generic Medicine is Mesacol OD(by Sun Pharma)

 

[Robrich]

Yes on the generics if it's available here. You can always ask the pharmacy for a generic. Insurance here is complicated. Every plan is different esp. with regards to prescriptions. Some people use Canadian or Indian mail order pharmacies.

 

[kyoung02]

Make sure you go to an in network doctor your insurance participates with. Read your benefits manual well. If you go out of network you will pay a lot more out of pocket. I feel for you. I have a 7000.00 max out of pocket and am meeting it. [emoji29]. Best of luck to you!