I am going to be losing my Tenncare (Tennessee's state Medicaid) September
29th. I am on Medicare also, so the Tenncare only paid what Medicare
didn't, and I have the Medicare part D. I will be getting put on my
husband's insurance at work, and they are going to be the secondary like
Tenncare was. The only problems are that when I was on my Part D, my
scripts only cost me anywhere from $4-$1. Now I am going lose that because
of my husband's insurance has prescription coverage, and even if I only use
that when I get into that donut hole where they won't pay for anything, I
cannot keep both and WILL lose the Part D and have to use the other. I am
on a lot of meds. Most of which are for severe chronic pain and cannot just
be "stopped". I would end up either in the hospital or dead if I tried.

The cost for scripts with them is anywhere from $10 for their preferred list
generics, to $50 or more for their preferred list brand names. If it's not
on their "list", it's not covered. I have found at least 2 meds I am on now
that aren't on the list at all, and one that is only brand name. I was
wondering if anyone knows anything about this insurance game and could
perhaps give me some advice on some things. Like what if I have been on a
medicine for years, and it's one of those that I cannot just "stop taking",
will they cover it? Is there any extra help available for people that have
private script coverage that the co-pay is so high they cannot afford it? I
can't afford to pay well over $250-$300 per month for my scripts.

Yes, I do realize that's pretty good compared to most other folks, I
understand alot of people don't even have insurance. But losing the
Tenncare pretty much wiped us out. Not only will this mean more money out
of hubby's check to pay for me on his insurance, my co-pays are going to go
way up. We have NO extra money to start with, so this is an issue of either
going without something for the month to pay for my meds, or getting off all
the meds and finding another way to deal with the pain. I have filed an
appeal to losing Tenncare and have lost it. Tenncare is very strict in who
they cover...you have to be either pregnant or a child. And then they don't
cover much.

So if anyone has any ideas on how I could get some help paying the co-pays,
or a way to discuss this with my PM (pain management) doc, I would really
appreciate it.

(PS..I have no idea what the issue is with the formatting on this post, sorry)

Thanks,
Robin