Why we need health care reform

Posted in Health & Medicine, Politics, Rants on January 7th, 2010

Caduceus from Charm StoreToday, I went to pick up my prescriptions. I’m on some maintenance medications because asthma and other things. So, I get there and find out my insurance decided to not pay for one of the inhalers. The same inhaler medication I’ve been on for almost two years. The cost with the drug coverage — $165.00 per month.

Needless to say, I didn’t pick it up. If you’ve read my open letter to congress about medical coverage, you know that my out of pocket with the, in point of fact, very good medical health insurance that I have is around 10-14K per year as it is. I can’t deal with the insurance company anymore — I get ticked off and cry so Hyperion will give them a call tomorrow and try to find out what the deal is this time. Meanwhile, I’ll have to set up an appointment with the asthma/allergy doc and see if I can be moved to something the insurance company might just, maybe help pay for (normally, I paid a $50 copay for this inhaler).

Oh, the other surprise was that all the medications that were 3rd tier just went up to $60/month. Oh, joy. Guess, I’m a shoe in for the medical tax deduction now.

Is the insurance company making medical decisions by refusing to pay for their share of my Rx? According to them, “No!”. In a near quote what they told me the last time they did this is that they are not making medical decisions because they’re not stopping me from having the medication I need, I just have to pay full price. No one is stopping me from paying for it.

Well, I got news. That is making a medical decision. The insurance company is more concerned with their profit margin than in the people they cover. And THAT, is the reason that we need a public option. Health care should not be entrusted to a for-profit company.

The sad part for the people in this country is that Congress is more interested in getting big bucks for their campaign coffers than serving the people who elected them. The current health care bill is now a useless piece of legislation that is a great windfall for insurance companies at the expense of Americans who are without health insurance. As if stands now, the new health care bill gives corporations everything they’ve asked for and the American people nothing– no public option, no expansion of Medicare, and no coverage of pre-existing conditions. It also mandates that people buy insurance which will not cover their pre-existing conditions with a fine if they don’t get insurance. So, thank you Congress for requiring people buy insurance that won’t cover any of the medical problems that they have and then punish them if they don’t buy this useless insurance in order to afford what health care they can with what little money they have on the health problems they do have.

I’m upset from my experience today. Yes, I am. But I’m even more upset knowing that other people are having an even rougher time that I do. I have health insurance and I still have problems getting medications and care. Nothing that Congress is doing is going to make it any easier for me and it certainly isn’t going help Americans who currently don’t have health insurance or who can barely afford the coverage that they have.

Just one of those dark days…

Posted in Health & Medicine, Rants on March 12th, 2009

Mind Storm PosterAll day today I’ve felt sort of off. By they time we had supper ready, I realized I had a headache — took some Tylenol. Two hours later I realized it was a whopping migraine. After taking one of my bazooka pain pills (of which I’m getting really, really low) it seems like the edge is off a bit but I can’t wear my glasses around my neck, everything has a halo, and just this bit of typing is taking for ever. (I’ve got a spell checker that works in forms and just about every other word is coming up with the red underline that means it’s misspelled. Thanks to the geeks of the world, I can still post correctly spelled drivel with a migraine.)

At least I got the proofing I needed to get done today for work before the migraine hit hard. I’d forgotten just how bad and painful these things can be. I had a minor one last month. Tomorrow I see my acupuncturist, she’s really helped with relieving the migraines. Usually, I have the halo and inability to think clearly but I don’t have more than the usual headache level of pain. So, now I’m not used to it like I was when I was on Tamoxifen (after having breast cancer) and had migraines every day for five years.

It’s like falling into a black pit of memories that I would really rather do without. If you’ve never had a migraine and you’re thinking, “it’s only a headache.” Well, take the worst headache you’ve every had in your life then imagine whacking yourself with a hammer or 2×4 and then multiply that by 100 — that’s migraine pain. If you’re really lucky you manage to medicate yourself enough to fall asleep or pass out — either one is a god sent relief. I’m signing off and taking another of my hoarded pain pills (remember doctors are very leary of giving out pain medications — my insurance company says aspirin and Tylenol work just as well for migraines as the Rx’d pain meds — I wish every medical insurance company exec would have a migraine at least once a week for a year and be only allowed to have aspirin or Tylenol — I believe they’d rapidly change their tune.)

Hopefully, the weather will stabilize (I’m pressure sensitive), and my acupuncturist will be able to help, and by tomorrow evening I’ll be able to think straight and talk coherently.