CMLSupport: Gleevec Patient Assistance Program

"Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them."
— Flannery O'Connor

Gleevec Patient Assistance Program

Key points on income assistance for coverage of Gleevec costs, from Novartis

Editor's note: Gleevec is expected to cost about $2,000 to $2,400 a month. Novartis did not define a "limited pharmacy benefit." Contact the company for additional help and details.

The Novartis Patient Assistance Program is open to U.S. residents only

For information and assistance on reimbursement issues, patients or their family members should call 1-877-Gleevec (1-877-453-3832)

The criteria for receiving assistance are as follows:

The patient must be a U.S. resident who either has no insurance or only a limited pharmacy benefit.

Patients and their physicians will be asked to complete simple eligibility forms and allergy sheet, to assure that the patient will not react adversely to Gleevec.

The plan administrator, Documedics, will verify the income and assets of all patients, to confirm eligibility.

To be eligible for assistance, the patient's annual household income must be less than 500% of the Federal poverty level, and must have assets that do not exceed $75,000 (excluding first home and car). Applicants will be asked for documentation.

Uninsured patients with annual household incomes of less than $43,000 will not have to pay for Gleevec.

The level of assistance provided will vary according to the number of dependents per household and income. In a one-person household, the cap is $100,000 income.

No household will be asked to contribute an amount greater than 20 percent of their gross annual income.

Patients who have a small prescription drug benefit may apply for the Patient Assistance Program when they have exhausted their prescription benefit. It would not be unusual for such patients to enter into and out of the program from year to year, as the benefit is renewed and then expended.

Source: Novartis

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