The Insurer Making It Harder to Get Vital Asthma Medicine
Health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield just adopted a policy that will force many people with serious asthma and allergy conditions to self-inject vital medications at home. The move raises risks for patients while cutting costs for the insurance giant.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the country’s largest health insurers, just made it much more difficult for patients with moderate to severe asthma and allergies to get potentially lifesaving medications. (MediaNews Group / The Mercury News via Getty Images)
Madison, a twelve-year-old from Illinois, visits a medical clinic every other week to get injections of Xolair, a powerful asthma and allergy medication. The drug helps protect her from severe asthma attacks as well as serious allergic reactions to peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame seeds. Medical professionals at the clinic monitor her response to the injections, since the drug can trigger life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
But now, thanks to a policy change by her insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Madison may have to self-administer the expensive injections at home.
Without access to in-clinic injections, “I don’t think I would want to do the shot at all,” Madison said. “I don’t know if I would be comfortable even doing it.”
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