Good Evening!

My Cardiologist prescribed a new Cholesterol lowering drug for me. Gave me the initial injection at the office yesterday, and gave me a sample pack of the next dose for me to inject in 2 weeks. They called in the RX to the Mail Order Pharmacy that my insurance requires us to use for the best price.

Pharmacy calls today and asks how they should charge me the $475 co-pay for a 1 month supply, 2 injections worth!
(Apparently, I should have hired an armored car to take the sample from the Doctor's Office home with me!)

I'm new to Medicare, a baby only 3 months old. The pharmacy said I wasn't in the doughnut hole yet, but that it is a tier 5 drug. 28% co-pay. Doing the math in my head it's like 35% of my monthly Social Security check, not 28%, but I decide not to say that, and keep my snarky sense of humor at bay.

So, they give me the phone # to the Manufacturer's help department. On hold forever, gave up and left my number, no return call.

Got on the internet and started digging. $14,500 per year for this drug! Oh good, there's a cheaper one from another manufacturer, $14,100 per year :-)

So what I'm asking help with is: Where else do I go for my next investigations? What I've got lined up so far is:

Calling my insurance co. (Humana) and starting whatever process with them.

Calling my State (Nevada) for their drug cost help program.

Calling the Insurance Broker who advised me on which medicare plan to sign up for and getting his input.

Any other Avenues I should be exploring?

Suggestions from those who've been there greatly appreciated!

Steve