You got Covid, get Paxlovid, but don't get screwed over

I went to AZ to check out my “snow bird” home for the first time. On the way back, I got a complimentary case of Covid from Alaska Airlines. So much for good cabin air and wearing N95 mask on the plane. I have asthma, so whenever I get respitory stuff, it goes straight to my lungs and hurts, a lot.

I called my doctor and she phoned in Paxlovid. I have used this in the past and it worked great. I went to Safeway to pick up the script, the pharmacist said, “the copay is high, you sure you want it?” “Yes I want to live” was my response. The copay was $657.00. Yes six hundred fifty seven bucks. Shocked, I asked what the non copay was. $1,537 for a single course of Paxlovid.

I paid, but was pretty pissed. I did some research and got more pissed. The government gave one million scripts back to Pfizer to distribute for them, and their response is “Hey! lets screw America!” NY Times article

If you are covered by medicare/medicaid or any other government program, you are likely not going to get the rude surprise I got. If you need Paxlovid and you only have private insurance (Like Blue Shield), do this ahead of going to pick up your script. It takes only a moment and will give you $1500 worth of copay credit for 2024 for Paxlovid.

Enroll in Paxlovid copay program

In a few minutes, you will get a email with a “pharmacy BIN” card you can use in addition to your insurance to make your out of pocket $0. I went back to Safeway with my printed slip of paper. They were impressed when they re-ran the script and refunded me 100%

Take care, be safe, and don’t skip on the Paxlovid just because big pharma is all we expect of it.