Our "Free Market" Healthcare System Slapped Me in the Face Today

The following is a true story. I know. It happened to my wife and I, and I bore witness to all of it. Especially, the "down and dirty, beat me with a rusted tire iron till I bleed out" parts of the tale. Pinky swear. Cross my heart and hope to die. Etc.

As some of you may recall, my daughter came home for the funeral of her childhood friend last Friday. My wife had a chest cold, but insisted she was well enough to take daughter back to college (a 6 hour drive, mostly on interstate highways]. It's actually something she looks forward to doing since her brain injury has not impaired her ability to drive a car, and with GPS, well ... you get the picture. I used to share in these duties, but in the last few years I've been unable to manage it. I tire too easily and am not a safe driver on long trips due to my own disability.

Early Saturday morning at 6:00 am, they hit the road. Arrived safe. My beloved stayed at hotel overnight and then came back Sunday. She looked like [Ed. Note: scatological reference redacted] when she got back. I suggested she should go see doctor on Monday. She told me to go fuck my ... er, to mind my own business. Today, however, after two nights of coughing, wheezing and not sleeping or eating much, she actually asked me to get her an appointment to see our PCP (i.e., primary care provider).

Thereupon, I begged and pleaded and used my not inconsiderable charm [Ed. Note: example of excessive hyperbole] to get the receptionist and then the nurse to fit my partner for life into our doctor's schedule. I also threatened to take her to the ER if they didn't see her ASAP. Not sure if that had any effect, but - to cut to the chase - the good doctor saw her during his lunch hour.

Diagnosis: Bronchitis (possibly pneumonia) complicated by asthma, and weight loss [Ed. Note: Wife weighed ten pound less than the lower limit doctor wants her to weigh because of her type 1 diabetes. This is actually a very serious problem for her - scroll down to Diabetic Ketoacidosis to see why if you are so inclined].

Treatment: Broad spectrum antibiotic for possible bacterial infection, steroidal based inhaler, and force feed patient [Ed. Note: closer to truth than I would like it to be].

My Mission: Pick up the prescriptions, and find food wife will agree to ingest.

Simple right? Here's where the story gets - um - interesting [Ed. Note: inappropriate use of understatement].

Pharmacy texts me her prescriptions are ready. I arrive ASAP to pick them up. My wondrous wife is covered by Medicare because of her disability status - she's a pancreatic cancer survivor, a type one diabetic and also suffers from chemo induced traumatic brain injury [TBI]. After waiting in line for an eternity [Ed. Note: okay, ten minutes tops], I say "Hi" to pharmacist (my family are such good customers that she and I are on a first name basis - almost). That's when I find out that "Houston, we have a problem" is an applicable metaphor for "what came next:"

Wife's insurer (i.e. the US government, Department of Health and Human Services, ad nauseam) refused to approve payment for the inhaler doctor ordered. I know this because my pharmacist tells me so.

"But I was told everything was a go?" I say with a clueless, irritable look on my face.

"We're very, very sorry," my very nice pharmacist friend says, but she explains in short, simple language that the inhaler the doctor thought was the best one for my soulmate [Spousal rebuttal: In your dreams buddy-boy!] is not in Medicare Part D's drug Formulary [editorial note: shorter version - wife is screwed because Medicare won't cover the cost of said inhaler].

Pharmacist tells me that pharmacy has contacted doctor's office for issuance of new prescription for new inhaler that Medicare will pay for, but have not yet received call back from doctor.

I say, "Okay, but this is kind of important. I can't wait around for doctor's office to get its shit together [Ed. Note: pardon my French]. Wife looks like a cast member of the Walking Dead playing a character who is a member of the "walking dead' [Ed. Note: not hyperbole at all], is what I essentially tell pharmacist.

"How about I just pay the full price so she doesn't die on me?" I continue, and then I ask pharmacist, "What is the full price, anyway?"

Pharmacist taps fingers on keyboard, hits enter and checks her computer screen. "FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS," she says [Ed. Note: ALL CAPS used to convey stunned look on my face].

"Okay, let me jsut call my doctor's office to see if we can speed this process up," I say, after awkward pause because $400 fucking dollars! Not in our budget at the moment, no-sir-ree bub, not when we already have gone way over-budget for month because - see above part of story about daughter's friend dying if you skipped over it earlier.

I then call doctor and beg and plead and use my not inconsiderable charm [Ed. Note: redundant use of excessive hyperbole] to get the the nurse to agree to talk to our doctor and get him to choose an inhaler that is covered by the Medicare Part D Formulary. Nurse then calls pharmacist to confirm this is what will be done. Pharmacist takes down my phone number and promises to call me when new inhaler prescription received from doctor. I go in search of food wife thinks she might be willing to eat. Time passes ...

Phone rings as I am shopping at mega-super-dooper market. Pharmacist says new prescription received and will be filled ASAP. "Yay!" I say, and rush to car to drive back to pharmacy. Walk in. Pay for new inhaler - under $20 co-pay! Yay!

But ...

Pharmacist tells me she needs to go over special instructions regarding wife's use of new inhaler. One, I must make it clear to my "bestest best friend" that each time she uses inhaler she must rinse her mouth thoroughly, or risk getting a FUNGAL INFECTION [Ed. Note: ALL CAPS used to convey stunned look on my face]. Ask her to repeat that part. She does - several times. "Okie-dokie," I say, "Will do. Anything else?"

"Yes," says pharmacist. "Tell her it will take about TWO WEEKS for medicine in drug inhaler to build up an EFFECTIVE DOSE in her bloodstream [Ed. Note: All caps because you know why by now].

"Two weeks?" I say in disbelief.

"Yes," says pharmacist, but it will start helping right away ... but, yes, two weeks for the full effect to kick in."

Okie-Dokie. The other inhaler, that $400 DOLLAR one doctor originally prescribed, was supposed to work in less than a week, according to what doctor told wife. Looking at pharmacist, I can tell that she can tell what I am thinking, which is probably why she gives me this sympathetic, helpless, kinda ashamed look, and then says to me, "I'm so sorry about all this." I tell her no need to apologize because it's not her fault.

Because it's not her fault. Or the doctor's fault. Or the nurse's fault. Or my wife's fault. Or my fucking fault.

It's the fucking fault of fucking Congress when they passed Medicare Part D and did not allow Medicare to fucking negotiate drug prices with the fucking pharmaceutical companies, and every other time they refused to even consider a single payer healthcare plan for all Americans that would reduce the ridiculously fucking drug prices we are required to pay because BigPharma owns our politicians, lock, stock and barrel, along with the rest of its legally fictional pals.

And that was my lesson for today regarding how "free enterprise" works to make our country the Greatest Nation on Earth, Ever. Oh, what a lucky people we are.

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riverlover's picture

I hope she likes ice cream, peppermint. So much steroid that it has a black box warning for thrush? unfucking believable.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Steven D's picture

Lemon ice.

Should have thought of that before, so thanks for the inspiration. Smile

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

featheredsprite's picture

You: Poor baby. You were faced with the dillema of coughing up 400.00 you don't have or watching your wife die. Sophie's choice.

We may all have to get into the habit of checking the formulary before we leave the doc's office.

Now, I know that you're exhausted. Get some rest. You will probably need to be caretaker tomorrow.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

Steven D's picture

Worst year ever.

But it's laugh or cry, yes?

Thanks

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Steven D's picture

We still have our credit cards, so it's all good right?

And our friends, a much more valuable resource to tap.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

PriceRip's picture

          Sticker shock is not a happy thing. I sympathize, empathize, et cetera, and the been theres, and done thats as well. So, for what it is worth I hope you all have a better New Years, and we will see you on the other side.

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Steven D's picture

which is greatly appreciated btw, I give this to you:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s]

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

I think my wife is taking the same steroid inhaler. Her doctor added to the "rinse your mouth thoroughly immediately after use" instruction that comes with it that she should follow the rinse by brushing her teeth.

It's interesting that we were never even offered the "works in a week" option.

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Steven D's picture

I will definitely relay it to her.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

12 years a lurker's picture

A friend with asthma (and on Medicare) finally went to the doctor for some hoarseness that she'd been chalking up to seasonal allergies, since it didn't clear up after the first hard frost. Yeast infection in her throat, from the inhaler. So yes, please be vigilant.

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MsGrin's picture

It really ain't a system at all.

Best of luck, you guys! I hope she heals soon.

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

Wink's picture

best Systems for taking money out of your pocket and putting it in theirs. They Love their System!

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Wink's picture

greatest health care system on the planet - and don't you forget it. Just ask Big Pharm. They'll tell you.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

snoopydawg's picture

Obama promised us that he was going to fix our health care system but sold us out instead.
The let down we felt after trying so hard to get congress to listen to us only to find out that Obama sold us out months before the bill was passed.
We all know that while the democrats were saying they were trying to pass legislation that would give us better health care, Obama had already made deals with the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
I real about your wife's brain condition and understand what she is and had gone through. I too suffered from the same symptoms for 10 years after my tbi and still have problems with both the memory and anger issues.
I hope your wife feels better soon and she enjoys the special gift you bought her for Xmas.
Have you found a frame for it yet?
The one mine is framed in has green around the picture, then oak and more green which brings out the color of the leaves.
Take care.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Steven D's picture

Already in the frame. Chose to go without s matte, but if she prefers something different, well I will try to find what she likes. Thanks again for the beauty of your vision. Its a gift and I am glad I was able to share in it.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

elenacarlena's picture

for a simple inhaler. What's in that sucker, magic joy juice?

If you have a chance, you might research it online, see if you can import it from some sane country like Canada for pennies on the dollar.

Sounds like another Martin Shkreli drug.

I wonder if there's a natural remedy for asthma?

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Daenerys's picture

It's a life-saving drug, so they know they've got you by the short hairs. It would be interesting to see how the price of it has gone up in the last decade as well. Emergency inhalers, Epi-pen, insulin, cancer drugs.... Usually being diabetic doesn't bother me, but I'm getting scared.

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This shit is bananas.

Citizen Of Earth's picture

Last year I developed a wheeze. Doctor said I had Asthma and prescribes an inhaler that I'll will need for the rest of my life.

So I google Asthma and find out ONE of the causes can be acid-reflux, which I have. The doctor should know it because acid-reflux is in my medical file. Acid-reflux can apparently irritate the throat-lungs diagram. So I bought a wedge pillow that slightly elevates my chest while sleeping so the acid-reflux doesn't reach the lungs. Goodbye wheezing and Asthma.

This is the second mis-diagnosis from the doctor. The first mis-diagnosis was for Lyme disease which he diagnosed as Osteo-arthritis. I had to convince him to prescribe a test for Lyme which he finally agreed to (grudgingly). Had I not insisted, I'd probably be dead by now from Lyme. Docs hate being told you read something on the Internet which seems to match your symptoms.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

elenacarlena's picture

Easy enough to raise the head of the bed a little.

Docs may hate it, but I do the same thing. Better to show them what you've read than to go off and follow Internet advice on your own! And I figure they don't have time to keep up with every new finding about every possible disease, so I will do my own research and share it with them.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Daenerys's picture

You'd think the doctors would make sure your insurance covers it before they prescribe something, but they have enough work dealing with all the different insurance companies as it is I suppose.

I am currently in limbo with my health insurance; my work hasn't sent out anything about health insurance for 2017 yet, and the deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1st from the Marketplace is in two days. I've been getting emails and phone messages multiple times a day telling me to ENROLL NOW TO AVOID THE PENALTY!!! but I can't do anything until I know what my work is going to do. Arrrgh! I suppose I should call them and ask what they think I should do. I get the feeling our CEO is just stalling until Trump is inaugurated and repeals Obamacare so she doesn't have to offer health insurance anymore. She really is that awful; my assistant GM said if he had a gun with two bullets and the CEO and Hitler in the same room he'd shoot our CEO twice. (I've never met her myself and I really don't want to from all the stories I've heard about her.)

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This shit is bananas.

Steven D's picture

if that's the CEO's reason.

Check and see that if you enroll whether you can cancel at anytime if employer comes through, as well.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Daenerys's picture

so it wouldn't surprise me.

That's probably what I'll end up doing: sign up for something, anything, until I hear something from my work and then cancel it for myself. Last year was the first time they offered it, only because of the law. I already know it will be too much to include hubby on it; last year they wanted about 1/3 my take home pay to include him, and it's garbage. They don't cover Novolog, and they want 50% copays for other insulins. The price of my antidepressant pill is different every time I got to get it refilled, between about $5-11, and it's generic. What a bunch of bollocks. I wish I could find a job somewhere else, but there are no other prospects. No one wants to pay more than $10/hr.

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This shit is bananas.

Daenerys's picture

I ended up staying home today with a stomach bug so thought I'd have time to call. It said 'call volume is too high, leave your number so we can call you back when call volume is lower'. I chose evening, but it didn't say which evening they'd call. I can't even log in on healthcare.gov right now either! Awesome.

They never did send me my 1095-B and C forms from my work for last year either, but that's on them, not me.

Dash 1

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This shit is bananas.

Daenerys's picture

I can't do anything until I know what my work is going to do, but we'll qualify for a special enrollment anyway, which I pretty much knew anyway. I waited on hold over an hour and a half just for that. Feh!!!

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This shit is bananas.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

I hope your wife gets better soon.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Steven D's picture

is getting her better and eating so she gains back the weight.

Thanks

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

So many shocking aspects of this story, it's hard to focus on one.

1. The cost
$400 dollars is very close to one half of the median weekly earnings of an American worker. So the raw cost of the inhaler is about one eighth of the monthly income taken at the median, obviously the percentage is higher for anyone earning under the median which would be half of the workers. That a single inhaler life saving inhaler could consume so much of an individual's income is WRONG. Steven is lucky that an alternative was affordable but what if one was not? What if even the affordable alternative is unaffordable for many or if they know their choice is inhaler or eating? This is our "uniquely American" system where by design the profits of Pharma are more important than American lives, no hyperbole.

In contrast, In the UK, England has a cap on prescriptions of a $14.50 co-pay and even that amount can be offset with pre-payment certificates. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have no co-pays. In addition, children the elderly and people with specified conditions, i.e. cancer are exempted. They have an "evidence-based" formulary and the government negotiates the drug price. As a result of these policies the UK is considered to have the best prescription policies in the world If you read the link you will see how the policies of Canada, France and New Zealand compare. The one thing they have in common is central government control and negotiation over drug pricing and availability for their citizens, although in Canada the programs are regional. Every one of those programs is better than what is available in "We're Number 1!" USA, USA, USA! (Side note - the European countries listed are putting their national health systems at risk as "dark forces" (too sensational?) attempt to overturn their national drug policies through trade pacts. Fortunately, I hope, the citizenry appears to know this game is afoot and attempting to fight it off).

2. Formularies
In reality, there is no single Medicare formulary as far as I am aware and that is the core of the problem as noted by Steven in this diary. When a person goes on Medicare, they are told to plug in their current prescriptions in order to sort through the morass of the various Part D prescription programs available in order to figure out which one to subscribe to in addition to Medicare. The goal is to find your specific drug and which tier it is one and what your co-pay will be. Okay, what could possibly go wrong with that system? It goes out the window when a person is diagnosed with something new that requires different drugs! Gee, who could have foreseen that?

This is where I insert my always bitter commentary about how Barack Obama ran for election in 2008 on a platform that specifically included drug negotiation in Medicare, re-importation of drugs from Canada, and a fast track to generics, all of which were disappeared in the final industry written legislation passed by the bought and paid for Democrats.

Obama's legacy is that Steven's wife life was imperiled by his actions and the actions of the Democrats in providing us an industry authored health insurance system that still can and does kill people who cannot afford lifesaving drugs.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Steven D's picture

stories, like mine, that we hear so often.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Steven D's picture

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/14/drug-price-shock-feds-reveal-how-medicati...

Ativan, a drug that is used to treat anxiety, had an average unit cost increase of a stunning 1,264 percent between 2014 and 2015 for Medicaid, the jointly run federal-state health coverage program primarily for poor people, officials revealed.

Turing Pharmaceutical's Daraprim, a drug used to treat a parasitic condition in pregnant women, infants and people with HIV, had its costs per unit spike 874 percent for Medicaid during the same time period, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. [...]

The cost of Glumetza, a drug used to manage high blood sugar, got even higher, rising 381 percent for its average unit cost to Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit program for Medicare. Three other drugs covered by Medicare Part D had per-unit cost increases of more than 200 percent.

http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/10/22/heres-how-much-medicare-part-d...

Big prescription drug increases are headed seniors' way

Choosing a prescription drug plan is particularly important for seniors since they tend to be more prone to expensive illnesses compared to younger adults. According to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, seniors taking drugs to treat hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, or cancer can spend anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000 per year out-of-pocket just to take a single drug -- and this includes what a Medicare prescription drug plan would cover.

Another recent AARP study, Rx Price Watch, found that average annual prescription drug costs have ballooned from $4,140 in 2005 to $11,341 as of 2013 for elderly Americans.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

If nobody can afford $400 for the better inhaler, the price will come down or the pharma company will go bankrupt for lack of revenue. Free market isn't always bad. Obamacare doesn't let any of the good of the free market work. Insuranced based anything is not free market and free market isn't always bad. Just think how much you're internet would be if they never broke up AT&T and put more competition into the telecommunications field. Look how cheap NON-MEDICAL technology has gotten over the years. It's because of the free market. The free market isn't always evil.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

The closest thing is development of generics, but the drug companies have long found ways to tweak changes in the drug while it's under patent in order to be able to extend the patent multiple times. This was reported on during the whole ACA process and to my knowlege this gamesmanship was not dismantled in the final product.

Using a drop in demand as the corpses pile up as a method whether to determine if a price is too high, strikes me as a morally challenged barometer, but it is the one you are advocating.

Health care needs to be divorced from profit. Period.

Meanwhile, the high costs of drugs in the US basically subsidizes the cheaper costs elsewhere
Why The US Pays More Than Other Countries For Drugs

How The US Subsidizes Cheap Drugs For Europe

Pharmeceuticals cheaper abroad because of regulation

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Citizen Of Earth's picture

that Internet Access and NON-MEDICAL technologies are OPTIONAL service you can chose to live without.

Some medicines are a matter of life and death and therefore should not be subject to "the market". You health should not be subject to the Highest Price The Market Will Bear. Most other industrialized nations have fixed this for their citizens with various regulations -- But NOT the Neoliberal States Of America. Our leaders are shit (the vast majority anyway).

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

Competition drives prices down not up. If everyone opted for the same inhaler as Steve the company selling the $400 inhaler would go out of business. It has nothing to do with life and death. What is a "problem" is patents. That's when they have you over a barrel. Get rid of patents in the medical industry and then you eliminate that. Obviously it's complicated.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

The FCC only allowed AT&T a profit of 10% on investment.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Insuranced based systems drive prices up not down. Since "theoretically" only a percentage of insurance payers "collect" on their premiums, the price the companies can charge those that are "collecting" can be higher.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

Yellerdog's picture

I very much hope your wife is feeling better and thankful she isn't a coal miner but that would be off topic I suppose. When I get a new prescription I'm not familiar with I always ask the doctor if it's a generic and discuss other possibilities if it isn't. That doesn't always work because last year I was prescribed Doxycycline which has been around forever and it turned out I had to pay $60 because they drug companies had jacked up the price.

If you think you might qualify at all, (everyone who is reading this) do fill out the form and try to get the extra help. It's on the computer under Social Security not your state. Of course you won't lie but I will tell you that they do not investigate every corner and look under every bed to see if you have a secret penny jar the way they do when you apply for medicaid. OK it's an exaggeration but only slightly. I was accepted for extra help but turned down for medicaid even though they have the same general qualifications but the state has different ways calculate the maximum allowable recourses. With extra help I pay almost the same co-pay for a brand name drug as a generic. I've saved quite a bit.

To top it off the extra help office which is part of Social Security not the state automatically re-enrolled me this year without my even applying since they already knew about my whopping $2.00 a month SS raise.

Finally the pneumonia shot is free and it lasts 5 years. If your wife has bronchitis she should have the shot. In fact everybody over 60 should have the shot. I was in the hospital for 5 days once and almost died of it. It is not fun.

Best wishes.

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divineorder's picture

Had a bad year 2014 with all kinds of respiratory challenges that culminated in hospitalization on Christmas eve with type 2 influenza on top of the respiratory complications. Answered the question had been in Africa some months earlier and they put me in the Ebola Suite. It was that time, you see. Gave me about 50% chance but I survived it. Fortunately we had savings because the costs for the hospitalization and all the drugs were off the chart horrendous.

I think I did end up getting the fungal stuff from the drugs but who knows. I still often forget or am too lazy to rinse my mouth out, but that's on me.

Thanks for sharing, and wish you both all the best.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

He should have know that the drug was not approved for Medicare.

EDIT: I don't think this sounds the way I intended, Steven. I do empathize and your criticisms are valid. But my doctor ALWAYS checks the Medicare approved list before prescribing. There are way too many plans and one can't expect a doctor to check them all, but Medicare is ubiquitous. It sounds to me like your doctor values whatever freebie the drug salesman is offering rather than your health. I seriously think you should shop for a new doctor.

I know you don't have a lot of time, but research the two drugs on line by looking up the trial results. Is the new drug really better? Or just more profitable? I also take inhaled corticosteroids and two part inhaled drugs. I also take ARB's and other drugs. The research is revealing. Do you want to pay 50 times more for a 2% better result?

Good luck. I would pray for you and your family if I believed in prayer, but I don't.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

he probably gets a higher kick back for prescribing the $400 inhaler. I don't trust any doctor. zero.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

solublefish's picture

health care can only be conceived as a right and entitlement of all citizens, whose association produced that wealth and protects it. To argue against that, it seems to me, is only to argue in favor of oligarchy. corporations are creatures of law (which is not to say they are law-abiding). Do we really believe that corporations ought to be entitled to make money at the expense of the health and welfare of the citizens who created them through law? It strikes me that one who argued so would rightly be called an enemy of the people.

Why is it that this should be obvious to most everyone in the case of a Martin Shkreli, but invisible in the case of big pharma and the insurance companies?

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We should stop with the scam name for these plans. It's more like Romneycare, Drugs Edition.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

But I prefer to tie it to the same approach as was used with the ACA; privatization of what should be (IMO) government programs.

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Strife Delivery's picture

America is an amazing country...if you're rich.
Have children? Pay to send them to the best schools and universities.
Sick? Don't worry, fly your private doctor to your helipad.
Medication? Who cares how much that drug costs, we're the owners.
Break the Law? That only matters if you're poor.
America, the best government money can buy.

*I'm sorry to hear about your current concerns and medical issues. It seems the only thing we have left in this nation is sending positive thoughts and energies to those who need it. Greatest nation on Earth, wealthiest nation that ever existed, and yet parents are often forced to do GoFundMe pages to pay for their child's cancer treatment.*

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