Strange way to get Remicade | Arthritis Information

It was recently suggested that I give Remicade a go round again but this time at a higher dose. I'm all for it naturally but here's where the strange part comes in. I have medicare parts A and B as well as a part D prescripton plan. The part D plan says they will cover the Remicade BUT I have to go to the pharmacy myself and pick it up then take it to the hospital where I have the infusions to have it reconstituted and infused.

The bigger problem is this. The hospital that would be doing the infusion has a strict no outside drugs policy.

This is certainly a strange situation. Anyone else found themselves in this situation?

Bob

Nope never heard of that.

How were you able to get Remicade before?

I got it through Medicare previously with a 20% copaytheir are patients at my doctor's office where i recieve my remicade that have to pick their medicine up at the pharmacy first so i bet they have the insurance you have. i just get mine from the doctor so i guess i am no help but i wondered why they did that INSURANCE!I'd call Medicare and explain the situation. That's a horrible catch 22. Curious....how much was 20% cost for Remicade. I'll either be on Remicade or Orencia, and that's what my insurance cost would be.remicade is covered under part B of medicare. I can't imagine any hospital or drs office letting you bring in your own med. Too many unknown variables for them buckeye2009-01-10 09:04:57I order Rituxan from the specialty pharmacy and it's delivered to my home. I then bring it to my RD's office for the infusion. They have no problem with it and it's cheaper for me.Bob, I think this is why:
http://www.prescriptionaccess.org/docs/remicade.pdf

We took the mtx in to the ped's office to be injected with no problem. Maybe you can find another infusion center, or ask about a home health nurse? Good luck.
When I used Depo-provera for birth control, I had to pick it up at the local pharmacy and take it to the doc's office to have a nurse do the shot. After the first one, I just had a nurse friend of mine give me the shot instead. What meant by my first question was... when you got Remicade before... did you have to bring it in to the doctors office? joonie2009-01-10 13:58:50

No Joonie, I just called in about an hour in advance and the Remicade would be waiting on me when I arrived at the infusion center. I just had to wait for the IV nurse to come and get me set up and then fire up the iPod and have a nice nap.

Bob

Whatever way you need to get it- I hope you get it and I hope you have success with it! You deserve to feel batter!

I'll get it one way or the other. It's just after I've had a dose will I still feel like I want it anymore? (I'm referring to the possibility that I may have produced an antibody to it.) I think that's the exact reason Enbrel doesn't do much anymore at all. I was told that all biologics are like this by one doc, but after doing some research I don't believe Humira, Rituxan or Orencia are as bad as Remicade or Enbrel for this.

I don't expect my current doc to do much at all at our next and probably last appointment. I called in a week ago to get refills from her nurse on my Enbrel and pred. I have one syringe and no refills.....and as of yesterday still no call from the nurse. This is the EXACT reason I'm so frustrated. The nurses and reception staff take messages but then they disappear into thin freaking air. The best doc in the world is only as good as the staff they have working for them and the one I had before had a kick butt staff of two nurses and two receptionists that were awesome to deal with. So I'm going back in April.

It took them two flipping days to get Remicade approved for me the first time I took it! What takes a week to call in when it's been approved for one year already?