Kat's Skyrizi journey

[Kat]

AbbVie called me today.  I was impressed with their representative.

Looks like it might get approved but not definite yet.  Easier process that I expected however even easier than they told me it would be which is why I am a bit sceptical.  I'll know something for certain in the next week or two.

The AbbVie folks have been helpful for me getting Humira with private insurance.  I'm glad they're sounding helpful to you and hope they have ways around the high costs for Medicare and/or other government funded insurances (like VA).  Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with this process.  

I'm crossing my fingers for you, too!  

Thanks and I'm hopeful right now.

Once you get on Medicare things change and I'm not familiar with how it works when you get into the programs offered to help make things affordable so it's a learning process for me as well.

[Kat]

Received confirmation that insurance has approved the prescription. And Skyrizi has said they'll pick up the out of pocket cost over $5 if I understand correctly so looks like it may be a go.

[Fred]

Received confirmation that insurance has approved the prescription.  And Skyrizi has said they'll pick up the out of pocket cost over $5 if I understand correctly so looks like it may be a go.

So pleased for you Kat

[Wooley]

Received confirmation that insurance has approved the prescription.  And Skyrizi has said they'll pick up the out of pocket cost over $5 if I understand correctly so looks like it may be a go.

Brilliant Kat, that's great news 

[Caroline]

Very good news.

[Kat]

Honestly the steroid cream, Clobetasol Propionate Topical Solution, USP... has cleared up around my neck, ears and scalp A LOT! The skin isn't as thickened and ridged and I don't have the scaling much. Only a little itching but I haven't used the cream in 4 days and used it sparingly prior to then. I thought that if I didn't get approved I could continue to use the cream as long as I didn't abuse it, but I think that was a long shot as I know it's not good for continued use.

I am hoping my ankles improve. The stiffness has been really bad lately. I've had issues with both of them (pain in left, bone spur in right) I know the bone spur has nothing to do with anything and the ortho said pain in ankle from arthritis but from an osteo standpoint it was mild (the arthritis not the pain ). The rheumatologist is the one that mentioned psoriatic arthritis when we discussed things before covid. He wanted me to try other biologics to see if they helped so we'll see.

[Caroline]

That seems a good strategy.
I think it is primarily obvious that if you have Psoriasis, and you have joint problems, the first thing you have to think of is Psoriatic Arthritis, and not arthrosis or rheuma or else.
Of course you have to keep an open mind, but don’t ignore the obvious

[Fred]

That seems a good strategy.
I think it is primarily obvious that if you have Psoriasis, and you have joint problems, the first thing you have to think of is Psoriatic Arthritis, and not arthrosis or rheuma or else.
Of course you have to keep an open mind, but don’t ignore the obvious

I agree.

[Kat]

Fred, I don't know how much insurance information on me trying to get Skyrizi you'd want in this thread since it's about treatments. It's relevant to being a part of my journey with Skyrizi, but perhaps not the place for it so feel free to move it elsewhere if you think that would be better.

So, I'm impressed with the AbbVie people I have dealt with so far. Today my nurse called, she will be the one teaching me how to inject (which will be short and sweet since I've done it before) and answer any questions or direct me to someone to answer questions regarding the medication itself, issues with getting it, etc.

I told her where I was so far and she said it's not uncommon for the pharmacy to sign their customers up for the AbbVie savings card, however what happens is that they notify AbbVie who basically says sure, we'll send her one (which would have been the phone call I received) BUT... it doesn't mean it (the savings card) will work. So she recommended after we talked that she would put me with a specialist who handles that side of things and....

Yeah, Medicare patients including those on Medicare Advantage are NOT eligible for the AbbVie Savings Card program just as I feared.

However, they do have other programs for Medicare patients and gave me the information on how to apply on their site. She said once I fill out the information they will send the doctor his/her part to fill out and get on it right away. The nurse said they can usually make it happen but there are some cases where they can't so we'll just have to see.

I'll keep updating as I get more information. I was hoping that somehow it was already a done deal, but somehow I just knew it was not going to be that simple.

[Fred]

I think it's relevant about the insurance, for some it wont be like myself in Europe but I'm thinking it could be helpful to our readers from the USA.

Still sounds very complicated to me, but it's part of your journey so yes I think it would be helpful to others if you spoke about how to get it let alone use it or how it's worked for you.

It's your thread about your journey and it will help others, so I will say it's your choice about how far you go in regard to the insurance Kat.