Feraheme IV iron injections, not "infusions" = full insurance coverage

Wow, SMama, bet you were excited about this.  What insurance do you have?  I'll have to look into this "office sevices"  thing.  Hope  your results are great.  I'll be looking for your posts.

Jenny 

I am 4.5 yrs post op and have been through one set of iron shots so far of Fereheme.  I also get B-12 from the same hematologist now they tell me Blue Cross PPQ won't pay for Fererheme and I get Infed in stead.  Anyone have any idea why this might be?  I'll eventually call Blue Cross and ask but wanted to throw this out there first.  I love being 140# lighter but the messed up blood chemistry is  a dear price to pay.

Cordially,

Paul

Not familiar with Feraheme, I got infusions of Venofer for 4 weeks with calcium and multivites IV.  If I ever need iron again, I'll ask about it.

Labs were a mess after dealing with Mom's decline and death.  Working *VERY* hard to get levels back to where they need to be. 

Hello,

 

I am 13 years post op BPD/DS. In general, my labs have remained shockingly consistent despite being terribly inconsistent with supplementation. My calcium remains in normal ranges as does D (despite living in Seattle for 10 years and now Michigan for the last 2) and most others are on the low side of acceptable.

Except for iron. My iron has been a disaster for a long time. I had to do Venofer 3x weekly for 6 weeks in 2010 when I was pregnant and it took me from 4 to 18. After that, I abandoned it because of cost, time, and the emotions involved.

About a month ago, I went to the emergency room because of a host of seemingly unrelated symptoms. My feet hurt constantly regardless of flats, bare feet, or 4 inch spike heels. I was waking up nightly with leg cramps that made me scream. I was forgetting things ALL the time and was almost always fatigued but could never sleep for more than 5 hours. One day, I was driving and I became completely disoriented and confused. I called my husband because I'd lost sight of Mount Rainier (a helpful directional landmark when you are driving in Seattle) and I was totally distraught. He was extremely scared because we were living in Michigan so I was clearly totally out of it. He directed my driving, telling me which streets to turn on and then said "OK, do you see a big building on the left with a red cross on it? That's the hospital. Go into the emergency room, they are expecting you."

I went in and they ran blood tests. My hemoglobin was approximately 3 and my ferritin was undetectable. They threw my ass into ICU. In 4 days, I had 8 or 9 blood transfusions. I also had slews of medical students coming in to stare in wonder at the Crazy Lady who walked into the ER and said "I feel a little strange" because apparently with hemoglobin that low, I was in danger of dropping dead and they are still talking about it (pausing a moment to beat chest like Tarzan). 

That was a month ago. The transfusions brought me up to 12.8 and things looked good. I followed up with a hematologist 2 weeks ago and my ferritin tanked below 10 again and my hemoglobin was 12.2. Yesterday I went in for Feraheme and my hemoglobin had dropped in 2 weeks into the 10's, which scared the **** out of everyone. 

I am returning for follow up bloodwork on Friday. Dr. said if I go below 10, I'm back in the hospital immediately. I suppose the up side to that would be a Get Out Of Cooking Turkey Free pass. But they ca't figure out what's causing the substantial drops. I had so many cameras invading every possible orifice while hospitalized that I run away at the sight of the word "scope". Everything came back fine. So they are stumped. 

I am very curious to see how the Feraheme works for me. It was a BEAUTIFUL transfusion. I sat down, one poke and the line was in. It took 20 minutes and I was done. Not a single issue. I have a second round next week. My hematologist (also an oncologist) said 1 2-week course of Feraheme should shoot me up so high I won't need to return for a year. We'll see. 

I just found this, and I'm so happy! Did it work out for you? I'm going to try it with my doctor my Ferritin is at 5.

I have United Healthcare.  I'm definitely excited!  If this works well, I'll be able to get this annually & not have to worry about breaking the bank every year!  Fingers crossed.

The lady in billing who verified the insurance for me said that UHC doesn't require pre-authorization because the doctor/facility are in-network.  And because they're administering the injection in their own facility, it's considered an office service.  Since I already had my office visit and paid my co-pay, I don't have to pay anything else; nothing toward my deductible, and there isn't even another co-pay.  When I had my infusions before, my regular doc sent me to an ambulatory infusion clinic in a separate hospital, so it was considered an outpatient service.