Goddamned Prescription Part D insurers--a rant

[hyphenate]

The other day tried to get a few prescriptions filled, and suddenly they wanted to charge a lot of money for them. I'm on the low income subsidy, and having to pay for 10 prescriptions a month, some of them expensive, could never be accomplished if I couldn't afford them. Many of them would have to be dropped, which is detrimental to my health in the end.

Made a few calls, and come to find out that not only haven't I been on the plan I selected, but was still on the plan I had originally been assigned, which didn't support a lot of my prescriptions to start with! And suddenly, I went from 100% coverage to 75% coverage, with the need to pay a premium.

I know I have it rather good on this area, but I spent my last 4 years in L.A. with no medical coverage at all, trying to deal with multiple ailments, including depression, with nothing other than OTC medication. Hint: it doesn't work. And I was diabetic, with fibro, and two heart attacks in my history. At one time, I tried to apply for the Medi-Cal, and was not only told I wasn't "disabled" but that if Massachusetts would provide better to me, they'd give me a one-way ticket back. Yes--this was actually said to me by a social worker at the Pomona welfare office.

Anyhow, I called Medicare, and they told me the same thing, and then I called Social Security, and pretty much got the same treatment, only worse. At one moment, the woman came out and said, "Be grateful you have a medical plan!" I got both frustrated and pissed off, and I finally said, "I will be so glad when this administration is gone for good!" and hung up on the woman. If I had gotten her name, I sure would have complained about her.

I was in tears after all these calls, but still needed to take care of it, so I called a couple of more people, including the Medicare office again, and got a very nice guy who was on the phone with me for almost an hour, who was helping me switch to a new plan. Unlike the first guy, he told me I would be able to change, and how the records showed that I had tried to switch to the other plan I had wanted, but for some reason it was invalid.

So now I will have a new plan as of April 1. There is an initial layout of cash, with a deductible to fulfill, but I should still be eligible for the low income subsidy, so once that's approved, I will go back to how I should have been all along.

There are a few drugs which are going to cost me beaucoup bucks until I can get that coverage, though, and I might have to tell my doctors I can't afford them. One of them is the med for my stomach, Protonix. It's now out in generic form, but costs $129 for one month. I guess I'll have to switch to Alka-Seltzer instead. The insulin will be about $50 a month for now, and I certainly can't stop taking that.

This is so fucking stupid. People are dying, suffering and have no where to go in order to get their medications! On some things, I will go back to the ways I coped in L.A., which was very unhealthy--not taking meds, cutting pills in half in order to have at least some of the meds for a longer time, getting insulin from my mom and dosing it out to myself.....

I've been in the position before, and it's always been something I feared again happening, and so it is. I have hoarded some of the pills I have, often taking only half-dosages, so I've got something to keep me going for a little while. Some of the others I will have to do without once I run out on them. Some of the generics are okay price-wise, but others are still too expensive.

And so it goes in Amerika, 8 years into the current, absolutely psychotic administration. ANYONE is preferable in the next election to what we're putting up with right now.

[Warpy]

1. Go to the websites for Wally's, Target and Costco

and print out the list of medications each has for bargain prices. Take the list into your physicians and ask them if they can substitute some of your drugs for the ones on the list. Cardiac drugs are especially well represented on those pharmacy lists.

I was on 10 prescriptions when I got too sick to work and thus too poor to cope. I managed to weed them down to four, all of which are on one list or another.

Docs generally respect poverty as a reason not to put us on the new drug of the month. They can be very helpful at designing an affordable treatment plan within the confines of cheaper medication lists.

As for the OCD drugs, check out the manufacturer's website. Often they have plans to offer drugs at a nominal cost to people who are disabled or otherwise unable to pay the pharmacy price for them.

Good luck.

[hyphenate]

3. That works for me

I agree--if something can be gotten for less, it's in my best interests to find it. Ordering online is a good option, and I will check the prices out.

The new Part D plan does sound expensive, but evidently, there are some benefits, including free (supposedly) generic drugs. We'll see. Yet another fucked up mess from the Bush administration.

[yy4me]

2. The medications I take are, luckily, on the Wal-Mart, Target or

Costco list at $4.00. I talked to my doctor about not having prescription drug coverage and he was happy to review the list and find generic equivalents for me. If those stores can sell these drugs for $4.00, should not all the pharmacies (CVS etc) sell them at the same $$$? I am a senior, still working and have Medicare for which I pay $96.00 a month out of my meager Social Security check.. I also pay for a supplement but I cannot affords the plan with drug coverage. If I break a leg, I'm covered. Can take aspirin for the pain. If I should come down with some type of illness that requires pills or medicine not on any $4.00 list, I'm sunk. You are right, the system stinks.

[hyphenate]

4. There are a couple of my drugs

That aren't generic, and I can't switch. The new anti-depressant, Cymbalta, is also used for my neuropathy, and my Propranolol is now in capsule form, instead of pill form, and I take it because I can't swallow the pills anymore.

Some of the others can be switched, but I'm going to have to wait until I get the new coverage to see what I have to do.

Some of my ailments can't go away if I don't have the means to treat them, like the diabetes and the heart problems. But I've done some of this searching and coping before, so I should be able to do it again. I hope.