Implanon® (etonogestrel implant) 68 mg

Health plan coverage

You or your health care provider will need to check with your insurance provider to determine whether your plan will cover IMPLANON.

If covered by your insurance provider, IMPLANON may be covered as a medical benefit or as a pharmacy benefit. Medical benefits may provide coverage for in-office services, including products that are inserted and/or removed while in the office. If IMPLANON is not covered as a medical benefit, it may be covered as a pharmacy benefit, which may provide coverage for prescription drugs.

How to start

After you and your health care provider have determined that IMPLANON is an appropriate option for you, you can start your research by finding out if IMPLANON is covered as a medical benefit:

  1. Call the customer service number listed on the back of your health insurance card. Be sure to write down the names of any people you speak with.

  2. Tell the representative that IMPLANON is a physician-administered drug (not a device) and that your physician:

    • Will be prescribing IMPLANON

    • Will order IMPLANON for you

    • Will insert IMPLANON during an office visit

  3. Ask the representative if IMPLANON is covered.

If the answer is no, ask if IMPLANON is covered as a pharmacy benefit.

To get information about your pharmacy benefit, you may have to call another number (such as the pharmacy customer service number on the back of your health insurance card) and speak to a different person.

Repeat steps 1-3.

If IMPLANON is covered

  1. Ask the representative whether IMPLANON and the insertion procedure are 100% covered. If it’s not, ask about other costs you may have.

  2. Ask the person to send verification of coverage to your health care provider, if possible.

  3. If written verification cannot be provided, write down the name of the person you spoke with and tell your health care provider that IMPLANON is covered.

  4. Make an appointment with a trained health care provider to have IMPLANON inserted.

If IMPLANON is not covered

  1. Ask your health plan representative if there are circumstances under which a “medical exception” would be authorized.

  2. Tell your health care provider whether you would be willing to pay out-of-pocket. You can also ask your health care provider about payment plans that may be available.

Be sure to contact your health care provider and let him or her know what you’ve learned about your coverage.

IMPLANON® (etonogestrel implant) is a prescription medication for the prevention of pregnancy in women.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

  • You should not use IMPLANON if you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant; have or have had serious blood clots; have liver disease or a liver tumor; have unexplained vaginal bleeding; have breast cancer or any other cancer that is sensitive to progestin (a female hormone), now or in the past; or are allergic to anything in IMPLANON.
  • Talk to your health care provider about using IMPLANON if you have diabetes, high cholesterol or triglycerides, headaches, gallbladder or kidney problems, history of depressed mood, high blood pressure, allergy to numbing medicines (anesthetics) or medicines used to clean your skin (antiseptics). These medicines will be used when the implant is placed into or removed from your arm.
  • Immediately after the IMPLANON implant has been placed, you and your health care provider should check that the implant is in your arm by feeling for it. If you and your health care provider cannot feel the IMPLANON implant, use a non-hormonal birth control method (such as condoms) until your health care provider confirms that the implant is in place. You may need special tests to check that the implant is in place or to help find the implant when it is time to take it out.
  • The implant may not be placed in your arm at all due to failed insertion. If this happens, you may become pregnant. Removal of the implant may be very difficult or impossible if the implant is not where it should be. Special procedures, including surgery in the hospital, may be needed to remove the implant. If the implant is not removed, then the effects of IMPLANON will continue for a longer period of time. Other problems related to insertion and removal includes pain, irritation, swelling, bruising, scarring, infection, injury to the nerves or blood vessels, and breaking of the implant. Additionally, the implant may come out by itself. You may become pregnant if the implant comes out by itself. Use a back up birth control method and call your health care provider right away if the implant comes out.
  • The most common side effect of IMPLANON is a change in your normal menstrual bleeding pattern. In studies, about one out of ten women stopped using the implant because of an unfavorable change in their bleeding pattern. You may experience longer or shorter bleeding during your periods or have no bleeding at all. The time between periods may vary, and in between periods you may also have spotting.
  • If you become pregnant while using IMPLANON, you have a slightly higher chance that the pregnancy will be ectopic (occurring outside the womb) than do women who do not use birth control. Ectopic pregnancies can cause serious internal bleeding, infertility, and even death. Call your health care provider right way if you think you are pregnant or have unexplained lower stomach (abdominal) pain.
  • The use of IMPLANON may also increase your chance of serious blood clots, especially if you have other risk factors, such as smoking. If you smoke and want to use IMPLANON, you should quit. Some examples of blood clots are deep vein thrombosis (legs), pulmonary embolism (lungs), retinal thrombosis (eyes), stroke (brain), and heart attack (heart). It is possible to die from a problem caused by a blood clot, such as a heart attack or stroke. Tell your doctor at least 4 weeks before if you are going to have surgery or will need to be on bed rest, because you have an increased chance of getting blood clots during surgery or bed rest.
  • Cysts may develop on the ovaries and usually go away without treatment but sometimes surgery is needed to remove them.
  • Besides changes in menstrual bleeding patterns, other common side effects reported in women using IMPLANON during clinical trials include: headaches; vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina); weight gain; acne; breast pain; viral infection such as sore throats or flu-like symptoms; stomach pain; painful periods; mood swings, nervousness, or depressed mood; back pain; nausea; dizziness; pain and pain at the site of insertion.
  • Call your health care provider right away if you have pain in your lower leg that does not go away; severe chest pain or heaviness in the chest; sudden shortness of breath, sharp chest pain, or coughing blood; symptoms of a severe allergic reaction, such as swollen face, tongue or pharynx, trouble swallowing, or hives and trouble breathing; sudden severe headaches unlike your usual headaches; weakness or numbness in your arm, leg, or trouble speaking; sudden partial or complete blindness; yellowing of your skin or whites of your eyes, especially with fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, dark-colored urine, or light-colored bowel movements; severe pain, swelling, or tenderness in the lower stomach (abdomen); lump in your breast; problems sleeping, lack of energy, tiredness, or you feel very sad; or heavy menstrual bleeding.
  • IMPLANON does not protect against HIV infection (the virus that causes AIDS) or other sexually transmitted diseases.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088).

Please read the Patient Information for IMPLANON and discuss it with your doctor. The physician Prescribing Information also is available.