How much is Trelegy Ellipta without insurance?

Is Trelegy Ellipta covered by insurance |  How much does Trelegy Ellipta cost without insurance?| How to get Trelegy Ellipta without insurance

Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone/umeclidinium/vilanterol) is a brand-name prescription inhaler containing three types of medications to prevent breathing problems and flare-ups in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. Inhaled once daily as a maintenance treatment, Trelegy Ellipta is not intended as a rescue inhaler for acute bronchospasms. Trelegy Ellipta is an expensive brand-name drug with no less-expensive generic version. That means paying the full retail price can be difficult for uninsured people, but a few suggestions may help make it more affordable.

Is Trelegy Ellipta covered by insurance?

Some insurance plans cover a Trelegy Ellipta prescription, but not all, including commercial health insurance, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid plans. To avoid surprises, contact the insurance company before filling a Trelegy prescription

How much does Trelegy Ellipta cost without insurance?

$891 is the average monthly cost of Trelegy Ellipta at full retail price. This will purchase a single plastic inhaler with two foil strips that each have 30 blisters of inhalation powder. Each inhaled dose uses two blisters, one from each foil strip, so the inhaler represents a 30-day supply. When used as a long-term maintenance treatment, Trelegy Ellipta will cost more than $10,000 a year for uninsured patients.

Health insurance may be necessary to make Trelegy Ellipta affordable, but just how affordable will vary based on the plan’s formulary, copay cost, and deductible. Medicare Part D recipients may see the out-of-pocket cost vary widely through the year as they pass through their plan’s coverage phases. It’s likely, though, that Trelegy Ellipta will be expensive for many people with health insurance. When insurance plans do cover Trelegy Ellipta, they classify the brand as a Tier 3 or as a formulary-excluded drug, so the copay cost could be high. The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) does offer a copay card that can reduce the cost with commercial insurance to as low as $0 for a 30-day supply.

There are other options, and insurance companies typically demand that those cheaper options be tried first before approving Trelegy Ellipta. To understand these options, it helps to look at the active ingredients. Healthcare professionals classify Trelegy Ellipta as “single-inhaler triple therapy,” because the inhaler combines three drugs, fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium, and vilanterol, that are all delivered in a single dose. The first, fluticasone, is an inhaled corticosteroid or “ICS” for short. It prevents swelling of the airways and is a necessary part of asthma maintenance treatment. The next two affect the muscles in the airways. Vilanterol is a long-acting beta-agonist, or LABA, that relaxes airway muscles, making breathing easier by widening the airways. Umeclidinium is an anticholinergic or long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) that prevents those muscles from contracting and so narrowing the airways. Trelegy Ellipta, then, is called an ICS-LAMA-LABA inhaler. There’s only one similar triple therapy single inhaler on the market: Breztri Aerosphere. It’s slightly less expensive, but only slightly less.

The option is to use two-inhaler triple therapy: a LABA-LAMA inhaler and an ICS inhaler or an ICS-LABA inhaler and a LAMA inhaler. Unfortunately, the number of FDA-approved two-inhaler combinations can be confusing and will need the guidance of a healthcare professional. Although the same types of drugs will be used, the actual drugs will be different. As a result, there may be a difference in their effectiveness or side effects. Additionally, pricing them all out will take time, but switching to two inhalers is one of the surest ways to get affordable triple therapy. If a person is thinking about saving money using three inhalers, this is usually discouraged because of the risk of getting the doses wrong.

Prescription drug prices often change. These are the most accurate medication prices at the time of publishing. The listed price without insurance references the price of brand-name drugs. The listed SingleCare price references the price of generic drugs if available. Click the link under “Savings options” to see updated drug prices.

How to get Trelegy Ellipta without insurance

$10,000 a year is a lot to pay for a drug, even for life-saving medicine like Trelegy Ellipta. Thus uninsured patients have three workable options: pay the lowest price possible, get health insurance, or find financial assistance. There are others, such as manufacturer patient assistance programs, manufacturer coupons, rebates, or a free sample. They’re good but often fleetingly temporary solutions and not everyone will meet the often strict eligibility requirements.

1.  Take advantage of SingleCare prescription discounts

With a SingleCare discount card, the lowest price for Trelegy Ellipta is $528. That’s almost half the cost of the average retail price. Discounts will vary by participating pharmacies, but most will save $200 or more off the price of Trelegy.

2.  Switch to two-inhaler therapy

Both Trelegy Ellipta and Breztri Aerosphere are triple therapy treatments for COPD and asthma. They deliver three needed drugs per actuation. However, triple therapy could be cheaper if two inhalers are used instead. Even more money can be saved by purchasing each inhaler using a SingleCare savings card. Sorting out all the options will require medical advice from the prescribing healthcare provider.

3. Find the lowest prices

Whether using single-inhaler triple therapy or less expensive two-inhaler triple therapy, it pays to compare pharmacy prices. The lowest pharmacy price for Trelegy Ellipta is almost $140 less than the average price. Realize maximum savings with a Trelegy Ellipta coupon from SingleCare.

4. Get health insurance

Health insurance may be a more affordable option when all the costs associated with  asthma or COPD treatment are totaled. Start by visiting your state’s health insurance marketplace, but talk to an agent to make sure needed treatments and drugs are covered.

5. Enroll in government-subsidized health insurance

If commercial health insurance is too expensive, then you may be eligible to receive government-subsidized health insurance such as Medicare Extra Help and Medicaid. Eligible patients will pay only a few dollars for Trelegy Ellipta prescription if it’s covered. Start by visiting the Medicare website or your state’s Medicaid website for eligibility criteria, enrollment forms, and additional information.