17p ladies - couple questions

futuremrssmith7

Hi Everyone,

I am about to start my injections later this week and had some questions for those currently going through them or whom have had them in the past.

1. Did you use a compounded p17 or the FDA-aproved Makena.

2. Did you receive the injections at the dr office, by a home-health nurse, or administer them yourself?

3. What was your cost for the injections?

We are going to be using the Makena and the nurse that ordered the medication informed me that the quantity she ordered totaled around $3500 (I think it was 5 vials???). My doctor would like me to receive the injections through ancillary appointments at the clinic each week - so add in a small visit charge and medication administration fee. I have a 10% coinsurance for medical visits with a $500 deductible with a max out of pocket of $1000 (family). I know I'll hit my OOP with the remainder of my OB visits, U/S, and delivery so I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried about the fact I have no idea what my insurance is going to charge me for the injections (medication itself) and won't know for sure until after I've received the first couple.  The Makena would be covered by my pharmacy plan vs my medical so it is not subject to the max OOP. I've called my insurance and they have to complete a prior authorization before anything is covered. 

rara855

1. Makena. The shots are smaller and have less castor oil in them, making them less painful to take. They really are not that bad. 

 

2. In office. For me in office was "covered"  under my global coverage of pregnancy, home heath care was going to be $195 a week until we meet our $2500 deductible and since I have been pregnant in two calendar years (12/13) we would have had to meet that twice.

 

3. We ended up paying right at about $2000 out of pocket for 3 viles. 1 vile = 5 shots/weeks. I can't imagine you would need 5 viles as most OB's have you stop at 34-36w with the shots, so I would think you would need 4 max. Our insurance (Coventry) has been such a pain in covering these injections. It has literally been a fight to get each new vile, I hope yours won't be such a pain.

 

I can say I have had great results with the shots! I have two left and we will have made it to 34w. So that is great! Good Luck! 

Abeja1226

1. Did you use a compounded p17 or the FDA-aproved Makena.

Compounded, through the pharmacy.  I wasn't even offered Makenna

2. Did you receive the injections at the dr office, by a home-health nurse, or administer them yourself?

I'm in nursing school so I had my nursing buddies give me some shots, then my husband gave me the rest.  It's really not hard to give a shot (I wouldn't be able to do it myself, too scared, and can't reach that way anway)

3. What was your cost for the injections?

Each vial had 10 shots in it (So I got 2 vials and they were $95 each OOP however my insurance covered it so I only paid a $30 co-pay per bottle, plus $10 shipping).

eroplane

1. Compound

2. Husband gives at home

3. 5 shots per vial + 5 needles/syringes = roughly 50

I got 10 weeks worth at a time and will stop at 36 weeks. My insurance reimbursed half for the med. 

 

I do have some burning and itching at injection site but so far no major ctx. For me the Makena would cost 1000 per shot. Boooo!! 

PipSqueak0313

1. Where I go, they only work with a compounding pharmacy.

2. I get the shots at the dr's office.

3. I paid $55 for a vial of 5 shots out of pocket and the compounding pharmacy gave me the claim forms to file with my insurance if I choose.  The $55 cost includes the shipping costs to have the vial delivered to the dr's office.

fbf2006

1. Compounded 17p from Alere

2. A nurse from Alere gives me my shots at home

3. It's all covered by my insurance so I don't pay anything. My insurance doesn't cover Makena.  

futuremrssmith7

Thank you for the input. I had a rough day. I learned that the $3500+ was for 1 vial of 5 injections. The Makena drug cost plus administration and office visits would run me about $20,000 for 20 weeks Unfortunately, there are no compounding facilities near us for compounded p17.

I had tried contacting my insurance companies over the last month and was told by my pharmacy coverage that they would not cover the injections so it was up to my medical which told me that "we're not sure, you need to have your doctor call."  After a full day of stressing, I finally got ahold of somebody with our medical insurance and they informed me that they granted me a prior approval for the injections and they would be covered under my standard medical coverage - max of $500/individual. I feel like such a weight has been lifted. After the insurance not cooperating, I had no idea what we would do!

lovinglifeasmommy

fbf2006:

1. Compounded 17p

2. A nurse gives them to me in the dr. office

3. It's all covered by my insurance so I don't pay anything. 

prettypinkypeonies

1. Did you use a compounded p17 or the FDA-aproved Makena.

Compounded p17. My doctors office doesn't even use Makena as an option because it's so expensive.

 2. Did you receive the injections at the dr office, by a home-health nurse, or administer them yourself?  I go into the office 1x a week.

 3. What was your cost for the injections? $50 oop for a vial with 4 injections..