HELP! How can I afford Accutane without insurance?

[Jaime]

Hey all... I'm on student health insurance and it SUCKS. It doesn't cover ANY acne treatment whatsoever. I was on Accutane about 10 years ago and knew I'd eventually have to take another round. This is a good time in my personal/professional life to take it and deal with the side effects, however, I simply CANNOT shell out the $600/month it's going to cost for the drugs, Dr's appointments, bloodwork, pregnancy tests (which are f***ing RETARDED because I'm a lesbian... but...*sigh*), etc.
I'm really uncertain about buying the stuff online, and I've already STARTED my first month of treatment with my doctor. But, I wondered if anyone had any info on how to make this stuff affordable??? I'm a student with NO income other than loans. So is there anything? Medicade? Supplemental health insurance? High deductable health insurance? Prescription discount programs? ANYTHING??? There is SO much info out there about supplemental health insurance programs that I don't even know where to START.
Thanks so much...
Jaime

[Jaime]

That would be *Medicaid*... my bad.

[lisa]

bad news- you said $600 month but without insurance and depending on the dosage it could actually be a lot higher.
good news-read over the last several pages on the "buying accutane online" thread. you will find a lot of info there. i highly recommend chemone and as you read you will see most people on that thread love chemone as much as me. good luck!!

[Edward]

Well if your buying the brand name Roche Accutane then thats your problem right there, switch to the generic Accutane it will save you thousands of dollars and its the same thing. I was skeptical about the generic too because I am a brand name type of person but I asked my Derm. and she said its all the same. Hope this helps

[kay]

hey girly well i heard you could get accutane at walgreens the drug store for like 325.00 for 30 capsules like 10mg a piece but ill have to check it out my self......the generics are isotretinoin, claravis, sotret, or amnesteem. good luck!!!

[Smalls]

If you want to be on the correct dosage by weight, it will cost a lot more. I too am covered by student insurance and since my grandparents who have guardianship over me are covered by medicare or whatever, i don't have any coverage for acne either! It would have costed me 570 a month, 490 for the drugs, 70 for the derm appt, and 9 for bloodwork. Terrible! I can't afford that! So I order online. I just got my first package from Urantia Pharma which I have heard nothing but good things about, and I will see how well the medication works. I've been on one course as well. Goodluck!

[Kelsey]

Does anyone know if Medicaid covers it? I doubt it but it'll save me some trouble to know. For instance, I can give up hope now instead of waiting to talk to my doctor..

[Kelsey]

Here's my E mail address is you know if Medicaid covers Accutane. I would really appreciate it.
[e-mail]

[UhNO]

Id hope Medicaid would not cover acne medication, that's ridiculous. Don not get me wrong I have acne as well, but I do not think anyone is entitled to having the government foot the bill for it. Get another job or DEAL WITH IT.

[Cassie]

UhNO wrote:

Id hope Medicaid would not cover acne medication, that's ridiculous. Don not get me wrong I have acne as well, but I do not think anyone is entitled to having the government foot the bill for it. Get another job or DEAL WITH IT.

You obviously have never had severe acne. Acne where looking in the mirror makes you cry and where all you think about are the red bumps and mounds all over your face chest and back. Where you won't even wear a swimsuit or a tank top. Acne that gets worse every year. When you have school, kids, or a job already you can't get another f#%&*%$ god damn job. Go F*#$ yourself.

[veteren]

UhNO wrote:

Id hope Medicaid would not cover acne medication, that's ridiculous. Don not get me wrong I have acne as well, but I do not think anyone is entitled to having the government foot the bill for it. Get another job or DEAL WITH IT.

Hahahahahaha, u have no idea what ur talking about. Ur such an idiot, why do u think u pay taxes. if ur from america ur health care system is the worst in the world.
U cant tell people to deal with it, u have no idea, or are in no postion to say that.
and u said to get a job. Look at the friggin unemployment rates atm ay! 10% in america. 5% in australia. Ur so dumb, u cant just change jobs. get a life.

[Ms Miserable]

im a hairstylist and there is no such thing as insurance for us. I have two kids and we have medicaid. I have cystic acne which is PAINFUL, embarrassing, and crack open and bleed which can lead to infection. Although i dont believe medicaid should cover for boob jobs, tummy tuck or other cosmetic thing but cystic acne isnt just cosmetic. Its HORRIBLE!

[brenda jo]

Ms Miserable wrote:

im a hairstylist and there is no such thing as insurance for us. I have two kids and we have medicaid. I have cystic acne which is PAINFUL, embarrassing, and crack open and bleed which can lead to infection. Although i dont believe medicaid should cover for boob jobs, tummy tuck or other cosmetic thing but cystic acne isnt just cosmetic. Its HORRIBLE!

Cystic acne is a medical condition and it should be covered under all insurance policies, even medicaid.

[hi everyone]

you tell em'! Don't they realize that acne is physically painful too?

Cassie wrote:

<quoted text>
You obviously have never had severe acne. Acne where looking in the mirror makes you cry and where all you think about are the red bumps and mounds all over your face chest and back. Where you won't even wear a swimsuit or a tank top. Acne that gets worse every year. When you have school, kids, or a job already you can't get another f#%&*%$ god damn job. Go F*#$ yourself.

[hi everyone]

AMEN!

brenda jo wrote:

<quoted text>
Cystic acne is a medical condition and it should be covered under all insurance policies, even medicaid.

[ivan]

yes acne should be cover by all insurances, but the problem is that acne medication make a serious amount of cash every year so the government benefits from all those taxes.. in other words is just another way for companies and government to put there hands inside our wallets.. so if insurances cover all these expenses they all be losing profit.. that f..n sucks

[Ms Florida]

I know this is a late post, but I've had cystic acne since age 13. I'm now 33. I'm self-employed, therefore uninsured. I found the best, most affordable way to treat is through health department Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo along with minocycline or doxycycline. Ortho Tri-Cyclen I get through the health department for three months, which costs a total of $16. I go through Publix (grocery store in southern US like in Florida) for my antibiotics, which they dispense for free. So all in all, I get all meds for just over $5 per month. Hope it helps.

[M Star]

Ms Florida,

So none of the products you mentioned requires prescription?

Thank you a lot!

[hi everyone]

I think I can answer for Ms Florida. I live in Fl too btw. I think she probably gets the antibiotics for a reasonable price and the doc visits for free. This is for people who don't have to claim an income (or choose not to) who are self employed or for people who make under a certain amount of money. Yes, you do have to have a prescription. First I recommend finding out where your local gov health clinic is and applying for a card there. They are required to serve EVERYONE. You may not be eligible for much of a discount if you make above a certain income, but it will most likely still be cheaper to have services provided by them. If this is not an option than I recommend getting rates for local doctors (not derms they are usually more expensive). Then, if they prescribe an expensive version of antibiotics, already have a list in hand printed out of the cheap 4 or 5 dollar ones you can get at wal-mart or your local supermarket as an alternative and ask your doc if he/she can prescribe one of those instead due to your very limited budget. Ask the doctor for several refills explaining that you can't afford to keep coming back for doctor visits. You may have problems getting them to give you a prescription for more than 1 antibiotic however. I was so naive in high school wn i used to suffer from cystic acne. I went to many expensive derms who insisted I come back after I ran out of pills (from 1 months supply) before giving me even one refill so they could "check up on me to make sure there were no side effects" or "to make sure it was the right medication and it was working" and shit like that. The extra visits were totally unnecessary. They just want to take every last dollar out of you. Don't be afraid to insist on refills. You will know what side effects to look for by reading the material and you can obviously tell yourself if it's working. Just be really observant of how your body feels and follow the directions precisely! You should start to notice a difference in 3-4 weeks and there should be a significant change in 3-4 months of time. I wouldn't recommend being on antibiotics for more than 4 or 5 months at a time (consecutively).(I've done a lot of research on this.) I would take a break from them for a few months after you're clear -(really for as long as you can until you start breaking out badly again). Note that you can be more susceptible to yeast infections being on anti's after the first couple of weeks so take good care of yourself and try to eat yogurt every day if possible. Prolonged use of antibiotics is not good for you but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and it's a matter of trading the more dominant symptom for one that is far less emotionally (and sometimes physically) scarring.

Good luck!

[hi everyone]

M Star wrote:

Ms Florida,
So none of the products you mentioned requires prescription?
Thank you a lot!

Just wanted to tell you I replied to you below in case you get email alerts from replies addressed to you. I should have hit reply in the first place but posted a new post just below yours by accident.