Thursday, April 13, 2017

Taking Drugs

It happens every year, so I don't know why I worry about it ....... Spring, I mean. It is a mad race to get everything ready for camping season. I am exhausted already and it is only 10:30. I was working in one of the raised beds, pulling the weeds and getting it ready to plant. All my energy is gone, so I am sitting here with my tea and toast, trying to regroup. The sun is beating down on that bed right now, so I will have to wait until this afternoon to finish anyway.

I still have lots of stuff to get ready for my yard sale Saturday and I suppose I could clean my small abode, but that is not very appealing. My toast is rye. I love rye bread, but seldom buy it, since I am the only one who loves it. I am wondering if I will be able to eat it all before it is no longer edible. I have it in the refrigerator, but what if it goes bad and I eat it anyway and lose my mind ...... will I be tried as a witch? Will anyone notice that I am crazy from the bad grain or will they just think I am off my meds? I have too much free time on my mind. I need to watch more TV!

Speaking of meds .... Two years ago we had United Health Care and it covered prescriptions, though not very well. We were required to switch pharmacies. We were using one close by, in the local town for convenience sake and their pricing on drugs was in line with that of Walmart. The nearest Walmart is 23 miles from here and Walmart pharmacy hours aren't all that convenient when you shop at midnight. Our other option with United was The Medicine Shop .... also local, so I chose it.

I have been annoyed ever since. They tell me that the insurance will only allow a 30 day fill. I know that a 90 fill is cheaper and is usually required by most insurance companies for drugs taken routinely. When questioned further they told HeWho that because we had the market place insurance (Obama care) that the rules were different.

This year we have Blue Cross. HeWho loves to run errands has been taking care of RX pick up. The prices have doubled and tripled on some of our meds and the cost of the insurance premium has gone up. Once again I requested 90 day supplies, since they were filling some of them with that (probably because the doctor wrote it as 90).

Upon further investigation, I have found out that my insurance COVERS NOTHING! And yet, they were still telling me that I was only allowed a 30 day supply. It doesn't matter how the doctor writes it, if you have enough refills on that script you can purchase an entire years supply of your meds if you choose to do so. They admitted they were still running it through our new insurance so that it would be applied to our deductible.

Some of our drugs are CHEAPER if we pay cash and don't run it through the insurance. So I have researched and found Walmart to be the winner in price and they will mail them to me free and give me a 90 day supply.

And .... the moral to the story is that you should never rely on your husband to relay messages. Oh, and check your prescription coverage. You can still submit it to your insurance company, along with over the counter drugs to be applied to your deductible. 

3 comments:

Kathy G said...

Life would be SO MUCH easier if insurance details didn't change all the time!

(And, you can always store your rye bread in the freezer so it doesn't go bad. It only takes 30 seconds to thaw in the microwave)

Val said...

At a recent meeting for the retirees who pay for our (Blue Cross) insurance through the school...our insurance rep had the nerve to tell us that just because we can get a prescription for $25 doesn't mean we should. That the insurance might have to pay $200 for that prescription. Um...I think that's the purpose of insurance. You take a chance that you might not need it for anything...but if you do, it's there.

The insurance I am currently paying $1280 a month for! If you can't take the generic, you can't take the generic. While I get the generic on my thyroid med, I have tried it on that blood pressure drug, and it resulted in my hands and feet swelling, and a shortness of breath with even minor exertion. I don't need a harpy funded by the insurance telling me not to get my medicine. She almost got chased out of the office with pitchforks and flaming torches. Of course, if we all dropped our Tier 2 meds, we probably wouldn't have had the energy to chase her!

Anonymous said...

I have prescription coverage through the school district from which I retired. It was one of those lifetime benefits, for which I am very grateful. They send long letters detailing any changes to meds, which I read since I only have a couple of prescriptions. However, I am always hearing from other retirees who take copious amounts of drugs but never read the mailings. I can usually fill them in on why their costs have increased, as it was explained in the mailings. When I hear what some people have to pay for insurance and prescriptions, I am eternally grateful for what I have.