Life saving drugs are so expensive in the US because the pharmaceutical companies have market exclusivity which means they are the only company that is producing a certain life saving drug and so they are able to set the prices of the life saving drug so high as they lack competition and know people need it.
The world's most expensive drug approved by the FDA is Hemgenix which is a one off infusion drug that costs $3.5 million dollars a dose.
The most expensive life saving drug is Zolgensma which is a life-saving gene therapy approved in May 2019 to treat pediatric Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
Zolgensma costs $2.125 million dollars.
Another most expensive pharmaceutical drug is Hemgenix which costs $3.5 million dollars.
Hemgenix is a one time gene therapy which was approved by the FDA to treat adults with hemophilia B who currently use factor IX prophylactic therapy.
The drugs that Medicare does not cover are fertility drugs, drugs used to treat weight loss, weight gain, anorexia, drugs used for hair growth or cosmetic purposes, drugs that are for the relief of cough or cold symptoms and drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Medicare is not the exact same thing as Medicare although Medi-cal is a type of Medicare for California residents.
Basically Medi-Cal is California's medicaid health care program so yes Medi-Cal is Medicare but only for California Residents.
Medicare is a federally funded health insurance program that is for people age 65 and over and Medi-Cal is also partially federally funded but only for California Residents while Medicare is for residents of any state.
In addition, the federal government currently pays 90 percent of Medi‑Cal costs for individuals enrolled as part of the ACA optional expansion, as opposed to 50 percent for most other beneficiary populations.
Federal COVID‑19 Policies Increased Caseload but Reduced General Fund Costs.
The ER is free with Medi-Cal if you need the emergency room services and it is a medical emergency.
However if you just visit the ER and it's not an actual medical emergency then Medi-Cal may not cover the entire cost of the ER.
Medi-Cal covers emergency room services for enrolled members of Medi-Cal and if you should your BIC to the emergency room staff then Medi-Cal will pay for the services that you receive.
The cost to go to the ER with Medi-Cal is $5.00 if you don't actually need the the emergency room service and if you do need the emergency room service then you may only have to pay $1.00 or may not have to pay anything with Medi-Cal for the ER visit.
If you get a medical or dental service or prescribed medicine then the cost is usually $1.00
Medi-Cal does cover CT scans that are ordered by the doctor.
The Medi-Cal reimbursement for the CT scans of multiple anatomic sites that are performed at teh same session and time on the same date are.
Medi-Cal reimbursement for the professional component (modifier 26) is 100 percent for the CT scan with the highest reimbursement price and 75 percent for all other CT scans.
Medi-Cal covers most medically necessary care which also includes doctor and dentist appointments, prescription drugs, vision care, family planning, mental health care, and drug or alcohol treatment.
Medi-Cal also covers transportation to these services.
Free air on a CT scan means and indicates a perforated abdominal viscus.
The most common cause of the perforated abdominal viscus is a peptic ulcer.
People with this condition need urgent surgery.
A PET Scan is better than a CT Scan as it shows more issues than a CT Scan does.
However a PET Scan takes longer and is more time consuming than a CT Scan.
In emergency situations when doctors need to act fast the CT Scan is much better but sometimes the PET Scan is needed to show any possible additional problems.