My insurance company sent me a letter saying they won’t cover my Stelara anymore, and are suggesting Yesintek or Steqemya - has anyone tried these? I’ve been on Stelara for over two years after my last bad flare when Humira stopped working (was on Humira for years, before that Remicaide, before that 6mp, etc) I’ve had Crohn’s for 20 years and am thankfully in remission - my last bad flare was 2 years ago then I switched to Stelara. Any experience with Yesintek or Steqemya? It’s frustrating to have to change when the downside is a bad flare that takes a year of my life to recover Any insight is helpful!! Thank you
Those are both biosimilars to Stelara, and either one should be fine. Several biosimlars to Stelara were approved by the FDA earlier this year, so insurance companies are starting to move patients from Stelara to an equivalent biosimilar (because they're cheaper to the insurance company).
Just make sure that if you're using a Janssen program to help you with copays for Stelara, that you can get a similar benefit from the biosimilar company. You don't want your copays to skyrocket while the insurance company saves money.
Post Edited (beave) : 8/13/2025 6:52:35 PM (GMT-4)
Thank you beave, I hadn’t even considered that! I’m nervous to change especially when I’m in current remission. Has anyone switched to a biosimilar? I’ve never switched medicines until they stopped working and I went into a flare, I wonder if I switch this time if they will do more regular blood work to see?
