He tried
Tuesday January 08th 2013, 12:18 am
Filed under: Life

Meantime, on our side of the continent…

New year, new policy.

The young man at the counter at the pharmacy this afternoon was staggered. Spluttering. “Do you want to see if the doctor can prescribe something else?!”

No, this is what there is that works and I guess this is just what it costs.

“But…!”

Yeah, I sure didn’t like it either, but what can you do? “We’ll pay it off.” (As I wondered how fast.)  He repeated again the number of thousands and hundreds in disbelief, then laughed wryly/bitterly as he added, “And thirteen dollars. And seventy-two cents.”

He shook his head a moment. “But what about the next month?!” I could see the wheels spinning, the medical bankruptcy right before his inner eyes.

“Well, by then it should be okay,” I tried to reassure him. We went back and forth, with him trying to figure out some way not to have to charge us what he had to charge us.

And then I told him the retail price on my ileostomy supplies is well over $900 a month (for those bits of plastic and sterilized pectin for an utterly captive consumer group, I didn’t say) and we have absolutely no choice on that, either. Except that, having hit our large deductible for the year right there today, our insurance should help out at least some from here on out.

He was trying hard to champion my cause from a position of zero power.

I think someone deserves a handknit hat, don’t you? Let’s see, color, color, hmm, he likes things bright and cheerful. He’s a good one.

(p.s. And as I walked in the door at home, the phone rang. It was the pharmacist, apologizing. She’d forgotten to fill the other prescription.)


7 Comments so far
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Oh. My. What can you do? I’m glad you could remain calm and (hopefully, honestly) not add to your stress. But still, the pricing is so wrong.

Comment by DebbieR 01.08.13 @ 7:22 am

I guess the good news is that you will hit that deductible right quick! What a sweet guy to worry about your finances. He is definitely in need of a hand knit treat!

Comment by Pegi 01.08.13 @ 7:42 am

Wow. Oh wow. But three cheers for that compassionate fellow.

Comment by Channon 01.08.13 @ 9:32 am

One wonders how the drug industry can justify such pricing! Thank Heaven your insurance will kick in soon. And those drugs ARE deductible.

Comment by Don Meyer 01.08.13 @ 9:53 am

Single payer. Single payer. Single payer. What in the HELL is wrong with this country that we haven’t implemented a single-payer health plan by now?!? Oh. Right. Congress probably has something to do with that. Grrr.

Comment by Debbi 01.08.13 @ 10:37 am

While the cost is stressful, I’m glad it works. I imagine if you had yelled at the clerk, he would not have been so empathetic. Well done on both sides of the counter.

Comment by twinsetellen 01.08.13 @ 4:51 pm

wow — how wonderful to have someone on the other side of the counter that understood (and this is about enough to set me off on another “why can’t we have single payer insurance” rant!)

Comment by bev 01.09.13 @ 9:25 am



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