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Bupe Suboxone Assistance Program - Free Suboxone For Low Income Patients

dj said:
Yeh they have this in Australia too. It's kinda sad when cash is the only thing standing in the way of someone wanting to get clean .

i just sent you a PM about this but if anyone else in the mean time knows a link providing the info for australian patients it would be greatly appreciated because im trying to get on the program myself at the moment.

thanks for sharing this info evolutionofthemind, but would you have the original links at all? i and some other posters would appreciate it, im sure:)
 
Me and my ex-girlfriend were on this program when we were on Suboxone. It helps out enormously. The difficult part is each Suboxone doctor can only have two patients at a time on the program, so it can be hard to get in to. Saves a TON of money if you do get on it, though. The medication was always on time, allowing you to pick it up exactly 30 days after you last picked it up (earlier of the 30 day mark falls on a Sunday). The doctor we went to did require an appointment with him every 30 days that you were charged for, but most Suboxone doctors require a monthly appointment regardless. There are absolutely no fees for the patient (except for the appointment fee with the doctor). The postage is paid for by the doctor, but typically they fax it, so that doesn't matter.

The thing that seems shady to me as that doctors don't inform their patients of this program. The only doctor I've had or ever heard of who told anyone this program even exists was our doctor. Of all the people I've told about this program, not one of them ever heard a word of it, not even from their doctors. Money grubbing fucks.

I actually started a thread on this exact same topic some-time in 2007. I'm going to try to find it...it might have been pruned, though.
 
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Nice one mate :D

I'm suprised my plan worked so quickley!

@Dopiate - yeah thanks mate! Don't forget now, will you?


But seriously, something needs to be done. I mean, insurance companies are there to make money - not to give a fuck about your health.

They would seriously rather NOT spend the money on your countries health. How can that be right?.

Its bad enough having to deal with the fucking cunts with my shitty car. Having my LIFE in their hands? FUCK THAT!
 
I completely agree, but you're turning this discussion into one that belongs more in Current Events & Politics. Try to keep the political discussion out of OD, please.

Thanks.
 
OK, sorry.

On-topic - It seems rather harsh that those under 16 are not applicable. Surely they are in the top-tier of needy patients?

Also, is this country-wide?. It would be great to hear that anybody in a bad finacial situation can access bupe.

Another thing - how enthusiastic would a GP be about this? If they are used to getting $$$ for scripting bupe, why would they do this? Or do they get given the same amount of money by the government?
 
^ As far as I know, it is country wide.

Most doctors are more than willing to do it. They still get paid because you still have to schedule regular appointments with them to pick up the Suboxone, so they aren't losing anything by offering it because they don't get paid any extra for prescribing you a drug, and you don't buy your prescriptions from them.
 
The thing that seems shady to me as that doctors don't inform their patients of this program. The only doctor I've had or ever heard of who told anyone this program even exists was our doctor. Of all the people I've told about this program, not one of them ever heard a word of it, not even from their doctors. Money grubbing fucks.

yeah exactly what i was thinking, it would be more money in their pockets at the end of the day. i'm pretty suprised that even hospitals and places alike never mention word of it either.

money makes the world go round:\
 
^ Exactly. They aren't losing anything by having patients on this program, so I don't see why they can't just tell their patients about it.
 
^ because if every patient knew about it then how could a doctor put one person on subsidised meds and then justify to the next person why they shouldn't be covered the same way...
 
Awww, the PAP. Ive been on all sorts of paps. Oxycontin paps, fent patch paps. It is a secret weapon in the arnsel of my hustle.
 
^ because if every patient knew about it then how could a doctor put one person on subsidised meds and then justify to the next person why they shouldn't be covered the same way...

Well, if he has 2 open slots for the program, it should be first come first serve. The first 2 patients who come to him get the chance to be on it. When one gets off the program, the next patient he sees then gets the opportunity.

I don't mean he should tell every single patient about it when he already has his slots full, but tell the ones he either knows would be eligible for it - patients with insurance aren't even eligible, so you can pretty much cut every doctors eligible patient list in half, at least - or on a first come, first serve basis.

Even if he does have patients on it already, you typically can't stay on this program for more than 3 - 6 months, so it would be fair to inform the patients of the program regardless of whether he can take them or not so they at least know that they can apply in a few months time.

Our doctor is the one who told my girlfriend and I about it, so why can't other doctors tell their patients about it too?
 
The fact that the US has no free national healthcare system is a complete fucking embarrasment. I mean, its pretty shoddy for what is suppossed to be the "greatest nation on earth".
I wouldn't go so far as to say that. "Free national healthcare" is a bit more socialist than a lot of people, including myself, would like to see here.

It's definitely far from being "the greatest nation on earth" though, the US is "the world's biggest totalitarian society". :\

On-topic - It seems rather harsh that those under 16 are not applicable. Surely they are in the top-tier of needy patients?

Most people under the age of 16 are expected to have parents who would provide for them.
 
To everyone sayin that it's messed up someone can't get help in the US just because of money, it's not like that at all IME. It's pretty easy, I had an inpatient rehab let me live there for 7 weeks while they waited for my welfare/medicaid to get approved. I had a friend who decided to leave (and never got approved) and they didn't charge him.

The reason people don't get help is because they either don't know about programs like this, or they don't want to go to a public rehab or comply with their rules. btw the public walfare rehab I was in wasn't bad at all, sure some weirdos were there but it's a fucking rehab and IMO a rehab should be slightly shady to remind you what your options are. Getting to know a homeless crackhead alcoholic shows you the severity of your own problem.

the facility was this renovated 1920's insane asylum(mad cool building) with a decent staff, free acupuncture, field trips, day passes (where you could leave on your own), access to all sorts of recreational stuff and better than hospital food. The staff was great because they knew who wanted help and who was just doing time so they could give help to the people who wanted it. and the people who didn't want help eventually got themselves kicked out. Since the building was part of the county psychiatric center (and i was there for so long waiting to get approved) the psych center started paying me an allowance (like the folks in the new psych center next door that were permanent skitzo cases etc lived) like $12.50 a week...lol.. it payed for candy and soda.

I should mention that EVERYONE in the paid insurance drug treatment community in that city talks shit about this place but that's beside my point. The popular insurance paid treatment place on the other side of town is fucking miserable, your basically locked in one building for a month and taken for walks twice a day. At my place there were open separate men and womens open outdoor corridors where you could go play sports or read a book or whatever during your free time. At night all the fireflies would get stuck (cuz these corridors had like 12 ft walls) so there would be like a couple hundred fireflies all stuck in the area the size of football field...all just drifting around....flickering...with the eerie 1920's insane asylum backdrop. lol i miss rehab....well i miss that view.

Since it was an insane asylum this place was really cool inside. There was tons of eerie locked empty long hallways that connect the buildings. Like the place you slept and did treatment was nice and fairly new, but if you were walking to a different section you were taken by staff down these super creepy haunted looking hallways. i'm way off topic

this is from their site, under the criteria for admission. And thats not just for this one place, it's for all 7 OASAS treatment centers that cover all of New York State:
Fees based on Individual's ability to pay (No individuals denied access based on inability to pay)
http://www.oasas.state.ny.us/atc/norris/general.cfm
Norris is the rehab I was at. I give it a 4 star review. free fucking acupuncture! comeon now, the entire staff was licensed acupuncturists, so they'd have like 5-7 sessions a week. So if you're living in NYS and need help check out the link.

Welfare/medicaid paid for my inpatient/outpatient/halfway house (8 months) and aftercare. I saw the inpatient bill and it was over $21,000, just for inpatient. NYS probably paid close to $75,000 for my entire recovery. So the help is out there. People just like to bitch that there isn't because it's a damn good excuse to keep using. For places like this you just need some type of social worker/doctor to vouch for you and wait for a bed (very high turnover so you shouldn't wait more than a week).
 
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The concept of having to pay for opiate substitution therapy such as buprenorphine maintenance therapy seems so alien to me. Thank god for the NHS here in England.

It seems like such a crime against society that sick opiate addicts have to pay for the privilege of getting clean with some pharmacological help (which IMO should be a basic right). I feel sorry for my American brothers. You have my utmost sympathy: :(.

Thank you very much for your sympathy. It really is insane, I am lucky in that I found a Methadone program that is State funded and had a sliding pay scale. I pay $5.00 a week which isn't bad but there isn't nearly enough of these programs. I would really like to get a prescription for Suboxone so I can taper down and get off the meth but at anywhere from $400-$600 a month it's just not feasible. Anyway, sorry for ranting, I just hate the crazy ass backward thinking of the United States, if they took care of addicts and I don't know maybe educated with real facts instead of propaganda as kids at least people know the truth and have a chance. Oh, and I'm sorry Captain Heroin but having free health care is no more socialist than having police on our streets and a fire department and a library, it is a right to live that people have and not only does this nation spend more money on health care than any other nation but the system is so inefficient that we are 50'th in life expectancy and 37'th overall, how is that possible.
 
^ because if every patient knew about it then how could a doctor put one person on subsidised meds and then justify to the next person why they shouldn't be covered the same way...

but the subsidy only applies to those who earn under a certain income or meet the programs requirements , right? so given they don't fall under those requirements then it should be pretty clean cut in why they don't qualify...in a perfect world at least. unfortunately there's always going to be those people that only jusy fall outside the requirements who do deserve the same cover as anyone else but there's got to be a line drawn somewhere. i dont agree that one person should have the right to be covered and another not, everyone should.

Well, if he has 2 open slots for the program, it should be first come first serve. The first 2 patients who come to him get the chance to be on it. When one gets off the program, the next patient he sees then gets the opportunity.

I don't mean he should tell every single patient about it when he already has his slots full, but tell the ones he either knows would be eligible for it - patients with insurance aren't even eligible, so you can pretty much cut every doctors eligible patient list in half, at least - or on a first come, first serve basis.

Even if he does have patients on it already, you typically can't stay on this program for more than 3 - 6 months, so it would be fair to inform the patients of the program regardless of whether he can take them or not so they at least know that they can apply in a few months time.

Our doctor is the one who told my girlfriend and I about it, so why can't other doctors tell their patients about it too?

couldn't agree more
 
Oh, and I'm sorry Captain Heroin but having free health care is no more socialist than having police on our streets and a fire department and a library, it is a right to live that people have and not only does this nation spend more money on health care than any other nation but the system is so inefficient that we are 50'th in life expectancy and 37'th overall, how is that possible.

You cannot possibly blame the health care system as to why we are 50th in life expectancy. It's not doctors forcing cigarettes and alcohol down America's gullets.

You also don't seem to know much about what socialism is, because having police on your streets and a fire department and a library is far from socialism, whereas national health care is a definitive step in that direction.

It is possible because we have an overpopulation crisis, which dictates killing is a business, and the business is good.

I would really like to get a prescription for Suboxone so I can taper down and get off the meth but at anywhere from $400-$600 a month it's just not feasible.

So, you're telling me you haven't bought four to six grams of heroin in a month at $100/g...

yeah...$400 to $600 dollars for a month's worth of potent opiate is so unreasonable...especially when heroin's so much cheaper on the street, right?
 
You cannot possibly blame the health care system as to why we are 50th in life expectancy. It's not doctors forcing cigarettes and alcohol down America's gullets.

You also don't seem to know much about what socialism is, because having police on your streets and a fire department and a library is far from socialism, whereas national health care is a definitive step in that direction.

It is possible because we have an overpopulation crisis, which dictates killing is a business, and the business is good.



So, you're telling me you haven't bought four to six grams of heroin in a month at $100/g...

yeah...$400 to $600 dollars for a month's worth of potent opiate is so unreasonable...especially when heroin's so much cheaper on the street, right?

The point is that nobody in recovery should have to pay hundreds of dollars a month to get medicated. There are people robbing and stealing to get the money so they can pay the clinic, does that make any sense. Oh, and American's smoke and drink no more than any of the countries with longer life expectancies, ever heard of a little country called France. Don't mean to be a dick but giving everyone the right to live and taking care of people before they get sick and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to help them, is not a step towards socialism, it's a step towards a better nation.
 
In order to get assistance your physician must call Reckitt Benkiser at 1-866-512-2216. From their they will fax or mail an application to your doctor for him or her to fill out their portion and mail to you to fill out the rest of the application and attach financial proof that you qualify (Tax Records no W-4 forms are not accepted). If unemployed attach your award letter received at the beginning of your claim or the stub that comes with your check. If you do not have current (2008) tax records send your 2007. After spending an endless amount of money on this medication (talkin thousands) of money that I didnt have to begin with... I was recently approved for this program and it feels great to get the help and not have to use funds on this again. Now keep in mind that your physician can only have two patients on this program (in some cases 3 patients) I would contact your doctor right away by phone and have them call the number to request an application. If you get approved your medication is shipped and dispensed to your doctors office so you will have to pick up from there once it arrives. You are provided a 30 day supply per shipment with automatic refills sent every month to your physicians office. If your dr changes your dosage then he notifies them and they ship out accordingly. You reapply every three months and can be on the program and receive meds for 1 year. Here is the link (see below) I went through to get the info and passed it on to my doctor who called the same day. They are on east coast time so its best to call them early depending on where you live. I really wish you the best of luck and hopefully this information helps you and others in need of the same assistance.

Oh follow up with Benkiser yourself too, and they will provide med. shipping info (date sent & approx. time of arrival) and after faxing in your application they will tell you the date you were approved. You dont have to wait to hear from your dr.
http://www.rxassist.org/Search/Prog...3&search_type=2&CFID=3784008&CFTOKEN=68097220
 
Also, Benkiser actual asks the doctor not to charge the patient either for any future appointments since they are helping cover the costs of meds. Basically they want to work together to get the patient recovered without any money out of pocket. But mine still does...
 
Hell YEAH! It's aboot focking time, mates. I love Suboxone, hate paying for it.
 
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