Seniors face Medicare cost barrier for cancer meds

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/06/13/national/w010002D18.DTL

Chemotherapy is now available in a pill, but if you have Medicare, you may not be able to afford it.

That's what happened to Rita Moore when she took her prescription for a medication to treat kidney cancer to her local drugstore. She was stunned when the pharmacist told her a month's supply of the pills would cost $2,400, more than she makes.

Medicare prescription plans that cover seniors like Moore are allowed to charge steep copayments for the latest cancer drugs, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. About 1 in 6 beneficiaries are not filling their prescriptions, according to recent research that suggests a worrisome trend.

Officials at Medicare say they're not sure what happens to those patients — whether they get less expensive older drugs that sometimes work as well, or they just give up. Traditionally, chemotherapy has been administered intravenously at a clinic or doctor's office. Pills are a relatively new option that may represent the future of cancer care.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/06/13/national/w010002D18.DTL#ixzz1PadXb2Hj

[Autumn]

1. So the future of cancer care will be for those

who can afford to pay for it. I see.

[OhioChick]

2. It's called....Thinning the herd n/t

[SheilaT]

3. Ah, yes, lucky me.

I have the Republican Health Care Plan. I don't get sick.

There's a little sarcasm intended here. I really am amazingly healthy, but I'm constantly angered that people in this country are allowed to live with these kinds of things.