> I have a friend who is considering trying Byetta. Unfortunately, her
> insurance company does not cover it -- supposedly, it will cost $218
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> The company is Caremark...
Thanks, Paul. A call to Caremark by her indicates that it isn't
covered -- so perhaps it's determined not by Caremark, but by the
company paying Caremark. Thanks for the info, though -- I'll pass this
on to her, as she might need to contact someone other than Caremark
about the "lack of coverage."
>A search for Caremark and Byetta shows that the drug is covered.
>Do a page search on, for instance,
>http://diabetes.blog.com/305513/ , which hails back from last
>September.
>
>Paul
Every contract's formulary is different. My carrier (humana) farms
out pharmacy coverage to Caremark. That formulary includes no
diabetes medication or supplies. I have a separate rider on my
primary health coverage for diabetes stuff, at a different copay and
with no mail order requirement.
My pen needles weren't covered when they were first prescribed to me.
I made some phone calls and learned that until my prescription no one
on my plan (through my husband's employer) was using a cartridge
insulin delivery system, so while the insulin was already on the
formulary the pen needles were not. It cost me half an hour of time,
and I did buy the first box at retail, but I've been reimbursed.
Suggest to your friend that she phone her primary health insurance
provider about the situation.
+++++++++++++
Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET.
This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%.
Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...
Susan - 06 Apr 2006 13:51 GMT
>>A search for Caremark and Byetta shows that the drug is covered.
>>Do a page search on, for instance,
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> primary health coverage for diabetes stuff, at a different copay and
> with no mail order requirement.
I get my metformin through Caremark. The carrier decides what's in the
formulary, not the supplier, as I understand it.
Susan
Paul_B - 06 Apr 2006 15:14 GMT
>>A search for Caremark and Byetta shows that the drug is covered.
>>Do a page search on, for instance,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Every contract's formulary is different.
I see. I have little experience with health plans, though I'm
learning much with the help of a good book, The Wellness
Revolution. So the problem here isn't CareMark, per se, but the
contract it's servicing.
Thanks,
Paul