Weekly cost of a chemo shot

Have a friend that was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He's getting one chemo shot a week for 12 weeks. Showed me the invoice for the single shot. Any guesses?

Ol dad

5k

wws

20k after insurance

12k

Not sure about the shot but a one months supply, 30 chemo pills, are almost 11,000 bucks through insurance. If you can find them direct from the supplier the same thing is only $150.

8K

My leukemia chemo pills came in a 28 day supply. $16,000 was the bill every 28 days.
I took those pills 2 every 12 hours…so twice a day for 3 straight years.
Chemo prices suck.
Jim

I am one who knows very little about reasons why. I do know people drive across both our national borders to buy prescriptions at hugely discounted prices compared to prices here. People fly to countries like Thailand for surgery. Cost is one tenth of cost here. There is a weasel in the chicken house. That I am certain of.

Doc wanted to switch my rheumatoid arthritis med. I dose a month was a little over $6K. My insurance said no thanks

I wanna say before my father’s passing his treatments b4 insurance was running something along the lines of $80,000 per treatment. It’s been 5-1/2 years now but that seems to be what I recall. But I’m old now and have CRS…..LOL

Someone needs to go to jail over that.

When I did 28 days of chemo with radiation I took two pills a day. When I went to pick up the pills pharmacy only gave me half the pills. I ask why not the whole 28 days worth? Said insurance doesn't allow it dont want you loosing or maybe damaging them. Said that first half of pills you have there in your hand is $10,000. That means my 28 days for just those chemo pills was $20,000. I don't recall what the radiation was or the 9 rounds of chemo infusion I did 4 months later.
But it's not cheap to get treated. Without insurance I'd been screwed.

So I wouldn't be surprised if your friends shot was in the 5-10k range.

Mac

His bill was $127,450. Per injection.

He is a Vietnam veteran and is using VA health care. VA is paying $9,000 and the company is accepting that as full payment. I don't understand it. Is the pharmaceutical company able to write off the difference as a loss and avoid paying any taxes on income? Is that why they would bill something for that high but then accept a fraction of it is full payment?

Ol dad

My brother in law was taking chemo treatments for brain cancer, when he passed away my sister asked the Dr.
if he could give what was left over to other patients. He said he would lose his license if he did that!
He said just to dispose of it. She said it was about 20,000.00

I have a relative who works in the VA and has told me similar costs.

So true

Wow, unreal

Sad!
Has to be fraud involved.

Well I just realized I made a typo on the cost. It was $124,750, not $127,450. So much easier to swallow now. lol

ol dad

Work hard and save all your life for retirement only to be wiped out by a confusing medical system charging 6 figures for a shot, it's not right.

They charge that much cause the insurance will only pay so much, so that's how they get the maximum pay out, No insurance and your screwed, if they would charge what they would have accepted from insurance it wouldn't be that outrageous....still a rip off, but people are gonna pay to stay alive.

My brother has a prostate cancer and gets a shot every 3 months right around 24,000 a shot.my son had colon cancer and was giving him morphine before he passed. Hospice came in and we had to dispose of the leftover morphine as hospice wouldn't take it back.they said if I would of sold that on the street I would have a small fortune.you talk about waste.

The end is still the same. For me its a question of what kind of life will be left.

Exactly, no one gets out of here alive, but a lot of people want to try...