Hey UC’ers,
I need your help.
A longtime user of the site is looking for some insight into what might be going on with Asacol and Delzicol with regards to their healthcare coverage in the United States. Below is the email I received:
Hi Adam, I so appreciate your site! I’ve had UC since 1988 so it’s great to hear others’ experiences.
My question is about Asacol HD and Delzicol no longer being covered by insurance.
Do you know if this is an insurance company decision or the supplier decision…or both?
Like many others on your site? I’d done well on Asacol for years, but now that it’s changed to Delzicol, I’m not doing as well. My GI doctor gave me some samples of Asacol HD to try. Now I understand that neither of these medications are covered under insurance. I have United Health Insurance and their supplier is CVS/Caremark. The only one they still cover is Lialda which I’ve never tried, so I’m really hoping it works well. In my 25+ years of having UC, I’ve never heard of medications just being outright dropped from coverage.
Do you know if CCFA is doing any advocacy on this issue?
Sincere thanks,
Laine from Arizona
**If any of you have ideas or information on this, please share a comment below!
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend,
-Adam
**For those of you outside of the US, here is a brief introduction on how one aspect of the healthcare/insurance/patient system sometimes operates in the United States of America.
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
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