Ack! There must be an alternative.

Your mom's penalty (added to a Part D plan's coverage) would sure be a whopper after all these years. She may be ahead just to pay the retail -- but I hope on something cheaper.

(My Advair inhaler is $404/mo. retail, but I do have a Part D plan. I pay $27/mo. until I'm in 'the gap' -- usually by September -- but I never pay $404. Who makes up these retail prices, anyway? Think of the biggest number you can say without laughing?)

How was the cruise?

It was "mellow". She couldn't really do much, because her stamina is way down. She slept alot, so I did too. That's not all bad, I needed my rest. I got a little bit of a tan and worked on my vitamin D levels, lol. Thanks for asking.

The price of that med is really her excuse not to take it. I really don't understand all the medicare rules, I won't be eligible for years.

With insurance my husband's is $45 a month, before we changed insurance it was over a hundred a month. He takes it twice a day.

Sue

I'm happy your cruise was good for you both. I'm planning to skip the 'retirement home', and just sign up for back-to-back-to-back cruises! LOL

The markup on drugs in the US is crazy! I've talked to our pharmacists at work and am told that the markup is 50 cent to $1.00 per prescription, no matter what the stores cost is on it. We make our money off prescriptions with the dispensing fees, which each drugstore decides on its own. We seem to charge the highest dispensing fee per prescription (I think it's $12.50?), but you get what you pay for, pharmacists who truly care about your health. I constantly see them spend a lot of time with our patients talking about their health and medications and they work with the doctor to ensure the patient is getting the proper help. Someone in another thread was saying what they pay for Crestor. I price checked one 20mg Crestor pill and it was $1.30 per pill. A 30 day supply would be $39 (1 pill a day), + 50 cents, + $12.50. $52.00 a month. And odds are really good the patient has drug coverage through work (I pay $45 a month for extended benefits that cover prescription, dental and eye exams), and the prescription would be either free, or about $4 for the customer, give or take a little. I can't check the actual price in the Pharmacy computer as I'm not a technician and can't use those computers as I don't have access to them, and the privacy laws prevent me from going into them... ;)

If your medication is in pill form and can be divided, check the price of various doses.

DH takes ONE milligram of a medication. He was halving a TWO milligram pill until we discovered that a FIVE milligram pill costs the same as a TWO. Now I use the pill splitter and get four doses out of a FIVE. (There's some flaking that is discarded. His MD said this was 'close enough'.)

DH was another procrastinator about signing up for Part D. He had never required any expensive meds -- until he was 70. Now he pays $85/year in Part D penalties that are added to the premium costs he has deducted from Soc. Sec. The penalty can increase.

The American system is a shameful fraud inflicted by a Congress beholden to Big Pharma and the Health Insurance industry. Americans must pay premiums to insurance companies that allow us to get vastly overpriced drugs at a 'discount'. Follow the money.

I would say to her, "Mom, I am going to go out and pick up the Eliquis, pay for it, and, if necessary, tie you down and force it down your throat," saying it in a humorous manner of course. "But seriously, Mom, I don't want to inherit your money, I want your money to keep you alive."

I agree totally, Chisue! Graywings, you just don't understand my stubborn old German Mom. I told her she must call her doctor and tell her why she wouldn't take the eliquis. Hopefully she did that and the doctor has come up with a solution acceptable to her. It was only Friday when I insisted she call the doc, so I'll check next week and see what came of it. I suspect she has been living with afib for awhile. I can't make her do anything she doesn't want to do.

I'm sure there must be other drugs with the same basic affects of preventing blood clots. Coumadin is a very old one, that must be accompanied by dietary restrictions and frequent blood tests to be sure the blood is not to "thin". One that comes to mind is Plavix. I'm pretty sure there is a generic for that. Do some research on alternatives and contact you Dr's office or him directly, if possible and explain the situation.

Sleeperblues, you are right, I don't know your mom, but I had a German-descent MIL who was equally stubborn, and stubborn about meds, so I can imagine what you are facing. My MIL would would fill the prescriptions and then not take them. In my opinion, you need to come up with something that shakes her out of this. Start crying and say that you are afraid she is going to die suddenly and your children are not going to have a grandmother.

If your mom doesn't want to take it, for whatever reason, you must respect her decision. Threatening her, bullying her, and even worse - the tears/guilt approach recommended above - will not work. It's her life. It's her choice.

Also - if you've ever taken a blood thinner, you should know that the side effects of these drugs can be (and were - in my direct experience) HORRIBLE. Affecting quality of life among other parts of a person's health.