Hi,

I am a 35 year old male who, last week, my doctor put me on 60 mg of
Accutane a day for the next 5 months. My acne is mild 95% of the time,
but nothing seems to be able to stop it dead.. so we're trying this.

I am, however, stunned at the cost and need some input. Since my
doctor claims the 30mg capsules are on "backorder" he has me on 3 20mg
a day. When I went to my local pharmacy they said they were out of
brand name Accutane, but had a generic in-stock. I said fine since my
insurance co-pay would be less.

They gave me a 30-day supply of this generic and I paid my $10 co-pay.
When I got home I was stunned to see on the receipt "RETAIL PRICE
$1,011".

Are they trying to say they are billing my insurance $1,011 for 30
days of GENERIC Accutane????!!

Now, as I said, I have insurance, but there is a $2,000 annual cap on
prescriptions. I never dreamed that that cap wouldn't cover 5-months
of Accutane since I have read that BRAND NAME Accutane runs around
$400-$500 a month. I was certain when accepting Generic that that
would insure I would be well under the $2,000 max.

But it appears from that receipt that my 5-month of generic Accutane
is going to cost over $5,000! I can't afford to pay $3,000 of that out
of my pocket.

Anyone know if I should be concered? Is that "retail price" a bogus
price they would charge someone without insurance? Is my insurance
being billed far less? How do I know? I don't want to enter month 3
of this treatment and discover I have to stop because I have hit my
cap but that receipt scared me to death.

On 29 Jun 2004 06:50:01 -0700, welziak@snet.net (Ryan) wrote:

I'm fairly certain that Roche offers Accutane free or at a greatly
reduced price to people who can't afford it. You might ask your derm
about this...because I think you have to apply to Roche through your
derm. I could be very wrong...this is all just off the top of my
head.

I have to pay for 'tane out of my own pocket, and so I called various
pharmacies for the best price.
The cheapest pharmacy I called told me the price would be about
$350.00 for a month's supply, so I said I'd be in to give them my
prescription and get my pills.
I did this and they said that will be $550.00, to which I replied that
they told me $350.00 on the phone.
Then they said, "Oh, let me run it through again WITHOUT your
insurance card...(runs it through again)...oh yes, that'll be $350.00.
My insurance doesn't even PAY for prescripions anyway, but apparently
they sometimes enter your policy number for your health care provider
with your name when dispensing prescriptions.
I know this kinda doesn't make sense, but that's how it happened to
me, and I didn't make any waves as I just wanted to get the stuff for
the much cheaper price. But it simply looks like when Joe Schmo is
paying out of his pocket it's cheaper than if it's coming out of some
insurance company's DEEP pockets--for the same exact thing!
What's up with that? The pharmacy gouging the insurance company...and
they're BOTH expensive as Hell.

(Anybody else have that happen)?

Thanks.

I really don't need FREE Accutane, I make a very good living, but I
can not pay $1,000 a MONTH for it, the point of my post.

EVERYTHING I have read says it runs $400-500 a month for BRAND NAME
Accutane. Does ANYONE know what they have paid for Accutane?

I'm also kind of surprised that your doc even put you on 'tane if your
acne is "mild 95% of the time."
Most of the rest of the people in this discussion group have it "95"
times worse than that, and some of them are STILL apprehensive about
even going on the stuff due to side effects, not to mention the huge
expense.
I think your questions could be answered by a phone call to your
pharmacist and to your insurance company.
Also, you may want to call other pharmacies and simply tell them the
story and find out which one has the best price; doing so saved me
$200.00/month.

jamiegoforth@webtv.net (James Goforth) wrote in news:2411-40E2ECEB-6
@storefull-3277.bay.webtv.net:

Which acne patients need Roaccutane?

These fall into 3 groups:

1) A few young teenage patients with very bad acne right from the outset
that would not be expected to respond to oral antibiotics.

2) Patients in their late teens who have been through the 'standard'
treatments for acne, including antibiotics, and have become resistant.
Most patients are in this group.

3) A small group of patients in their 20s and 30s who often have
relatively mild acne but it is lingering on for year after year and these
patients want the 'knockout' ability of the drug.

Im in the same boat. I had very bad acne until my first minocycline
course. Cleaned me up completely the first time but it didnt take long
for the acne to reappear. Went on mino several more times and it became
less effective so my derm put me on accutane. I to was rather nervous
about it but im on month 3 of treatment and so far so good. My biggest
mistake was to wait 12 years before going to see a derm in the first
place. I kept waiting to grow out of it but it just wasnt happening.

I pay 60$ CND a month for 2x40mg every day! Gotta love my insurance!


"Ryan" <welziak@snet.net> wrote in message
news:189b1c22.0406290550.1b6a23c3@posting.google.c om...

Well, I was able to log into my Insurance Provider's web site this
morning and see my past claims. It shows "Plan Paid $453" for this
30-day supply of Generic Accutane, NOT the $1011 the receipt showed!
THANK GOD!

I have no idea why they would print an over $1000 price on the receipt
I see, yet only bill my insurance $453!

Even though I am covered by insurance, can I still call around for
quotes on the generic? Even at $453 they are going to burn up my
$2000 annual prescription cap before I finish the 5 months of Accutane
and perhaps saving $100 somewhere on what the insurance is billing
will buy me more for THEIR money.

On 29 Jun 2004 06:50:01 -0700, welziak@snet.net (Ryan) wrote:

prescriptions and medical insurance etc.

On 29 Jun 2004 06:50:01 -0700, welziak@snet.net (Ryan) wrote:

Just a thought, but you might want to check into Canadian pharmacies.
Go to www.google.com and type in Accutane Canadian.

Good luck.