The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Content within the patient forum is user-generated and has not been reviewed by medical professionals. Other sections of the Melanoma Research Foundation website include information that has been reviewed by medical professionals as appropriate. All medical decisions should be made in consultation with your doctor or other qualified medical professional.

Anyone deal with Taf/Mek insurance verification and mail order?

Forums General Melanoma Community Anyone deal with Taf/Mek insurance verification and mail order?

  • Post
    Lddaughter
    Participant

      Just trying to get an idea if I should call tomorrow or give it another day. This past Thursday we went in and they want to put my mom an Taf/Mek combo for braf + to help the tumors. We did blood work and were almost approved for a clinical trial (for dosing) and was supposed to get meds that Friday. The blood work showed high bilirubin so we had to opt out but still put in the treatment plan to insurance to get meds that morning. We got a call today from the Dr. saying the meds will have to be mail ordered from CVS Caremark and they should be reaching out to us in the next 24-48 hours. Once again it feels like her spirits are shot (also found a blood clot in the lung Thursday so we started injections to make sure that doesn't get worse). She has great BCBS PPO insurance, we just wanted to know if anyone else had to deal with the mail order and how long it roughly took. We are hoping if they call tomorrow to get expedited shipping, otherwise I am calling and HOPEFULLY  get some answers. 

      Thanks for your time,

      -A

    Viewing 1 reply thread
    • Replies
        MC1R
        Participant

          I also have BC/BS PPO insurance and am on TAF/MEK .  They do use a mail order pharmacy that will set you up for delivery once all the paperwork is in order. The delivery is overnight because the Mekinist needs to be refrigerated. It will come in a cooler with ice packs. 

          If you don't hear from the pharmacy, I would call to make sure they have everything they need. 

          Good luck 

            Lddaughter
            Participant

              That is the best news I have heard all day! I'm planning on calling the specialty line in the morning and see where everything stands. Talk about dragging on and on. Thank you so much!

              zfishberg
              Participant

                The same with us. We have UHC and it took a bit longer first time when all verifications were performed. After that we are very pleased with this service and even getting reminders about refills from Briova – the specialty pharmacy of UHC

              J.bun
              Participant

                I have CVS Caremark – been using them for 3 months for Taf/Mek and have had really good experiences.  After your doctor puts in the prescription, there is an insurance approval process, and then CVS is very prompt.  You can call them at any time to get a status update (it was so frustrating for me to wait for the approval, but they always have the status information) – and then they do overnight delivery.  You have the option of getting the meds delivered to your home address or a CVS pharmacy.

                If you sign-up for the CVS Speciality Pharmacy online access/give them your email address, you'll get the shipment trackin # etc.  BTW – GSK has a program that you can get each of the drugs for only $10 each with commercial insurance *see page 12 : http://www.us.tafinlarmekinist.com/globalassets/products.com/tafinlarmekinist/melanoma/pdf/tafinlar-mekinist-patient-brochure.pdf

                  Lddaughter
                  Participant

                    Oh thank you! We are going to call up today. I have read so many terrible online reviews for them that I wasn't sure it was going to be a positive experiance. How hard was it to set up the drug program through them? We have been looking at that as well so the link is perfect!

                     

                    J.bun
                    Participant

                      It was super easy – just fill out the info online & you'll automatically get the "insurance" card.  You'll want to take a screenshot or print out the electronic card info (they never actually sent me anything in the mail).  Then, when you contact CVS give them the Group/BIN # and other info from the card.  It saves me over $150.00 per month…   even though there is the option to do Taf & Mek at the same time – suggest you do it separately.  It gives you the same Group/BIN # for each when you do it together, and CVS says they need different #'s.

                      Hope you have good experiences too !

                      Lddaughter
                      Participant

                        Great news! We had a good experience! We start treatment tomorrow! I used your suggestion and it saved so much. We are relieved/thankful to get started and they were extremely helpful. 

                  Viewing 1 reply thread
                  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
                  About the MRF Patient Forum

                  The MRF Patient Forum is the oldest and largest online community of people affected by melanoma. It is designed to provide peer support and information to caregivers, patients, family and friends. There is no better place to discuss different parts of your journey with this cancer and find the friends and support resources to make that journey more bearable.

                  The information on the forum is open and accessible to everyone. To add a new topic or to post a reply, you must be a registered user. Please note that you will be able to post both topics and replies anonymously even though you are logged in. All posts must abide by MRF posting policies.

                  Popular Topics